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The waiting’s over, they're here. A sensational collection of mind warping games, created to stretch the barriers of human endeavour. Do you tlare to accept the challenge of Captain Lasersound and enter into the electronic wonderland, a world where only the ultimate warriors survive
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PULL-OUT
Micropaedia Sound: Part 1
In the first of five parts — Background and glossary. Sounding out the Vic 20. Unleashing the Dragon. Voices of the Atari.
REGULARS
Monitor 2
What the US. Japanese standard will mean, page 2; Acorn up staged at BBC Show. page 3, Com pec North report, and View from Japan, page 4: Ncw-look Zita portable, page 5; Digital Research goes for IBM PC. page 7; and what comes after VniCak.pdge A.
Random Access 11
Your alternative glossaries
Microwaves 14
Routine Inquiries 16
Max Phillips has the answers
Readout 20
Better Basic programming and Graphics techniques
Gameplay
Otic Commodore 48
Check-out on chess games
BBCSpectrum 51
Grab the goods, dodge the aliens
Spectrum 55
Mike Gerrard's spectacular
ProgramCards
TI99/4A 57
Closing film credits
Atari 63
Escape from Pirate Island
BBC Model B 65
Amazing value! WP for 70p
Clubnet 69
Colchester's machine coders
Databases 73
PCN's software selection
Billboard
Quit/Datelines
82
Cover photograph by Chris Sie\ ens
Let’s Lease: Part 1
John King outlines other ways (strictly legal, of course) of acquiring the goods, in the first of a two-parter.
Atari Screen Action 25
More on the GTI A wonder chip from Lcs Howarth, who helps you put a bit of class into your gameplay.
PCN PRO-TEST: SOFTWARE
The Organizer
A package that makes CP/M more appetising by putting a menu in your hands — a boon for the busy office, reviewed by David Janda.
Spectrum Specials
A double-header from Ted Ball: Trace to help you dig out the bugs, and ZXText to mimic teletext.
PCN PRO TEST: PERIPHERALS
30
33
Daisywheel Debut 34
A major breakthrough at £399?
Barry Miles reads a promising world debut into his test of the Japanese Juki 6100.
Apple UltraTerm
38
A peripheral to make Applemaniacs just stop and stare? Richard King thinks so. UltraTerm could set new standards for video displays.
PCN PRO-TEST: HARDWARE
Duet 16 4:
The 8086-based Duet 16 (another flank of the Japanese invasion) is put in a time trial against the IBM PC and Sirius. It looks competitive, says Mike Whitney.
CHARACTER SET
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irt director John
Barron. Koxanna Johnston. Christian McCarthi addreat 5 > frith Street London W I A 2HG0I -4W 42J
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_ _ , _ „..._nt from the copy right holders Photosct by Quickset. 1K4-IK6 Old Street. London ECI Printed by Chase Web Offset. St Austell. Cornwall
Inbulcd by Seymour Press. .VVI Bnxton Road. London SW9. (11-7534444. Registered at the PO as a newspaper
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 19*3
PCN MONITOR
MSX calls the tune
by Mai Phillips
A new hardware and software standard looks set to change the habits of home computer buyers. Fourteen Japanese manufacturers and two US firms have adopted the new MSX standard, defined by Microsoft (PCN. issue 16).
MSX is a standard for micros costing under £200. It covers hard¬ ware. based on the ZKO. the Texas 9918 display chip and a General Instruments sound chip. And it covers software, based on a cassette operating system with a 32K Basic similar to the 16-bit GWBasic So MSX systems arc not only high performers. They're compatible A
cartridge for one machine will run on any other MSX machine.
Japanese policy is obvious. MSX was designed for Japan's own home market w here a lack of software was damaging the growth of home computers MSX turns home com¬ puters into record players the software becomes interchangeable . So the Japanese get out of a sticky problem
But. on a wider scale. MSX may give all but the UK's top producers a hard time Software houses will sec little point in writing for non¬ standard machines with small user bases With MSX. they can write one program for a whole range of
machines. Sounds unlikely? CP/M offered far less compatibility but you'd be hard put to find a top selling 8-bit business machine with-
If you're unsure what to expect. MSX supports everything its hard¬ ware is capable of So you'll have features like sprite graphics avail¬ able from Basic. Other devices which can be supported include touch pads, joysticks, light-pens, disks, speech synthesisers and. of all things. FM radio! With com¬ panies like Yamaha and Pioneer involved what did you expect?
It would be simple to sec MSX as the prime weapon of the so-called
and much awaited Japanese inva¬ sion. Indeed, since deliveries to Japan of MSX software have already begun we are once again in the position of waiting for the Japanese to move. Their days of sitting on the fence and timid test marketing may soon be over But don't view MSX as solely a Japanese threat (or promise). Two American companies arc already involved and a number of European manufacturers are said to be in¬ terested' It may take a while for the first MSX products to make it into the shops . but it does look as though such standards will shape the future of the industry.
Removable Winnie deal
Bouncing back after reports of its death in last week’s PCN the removable W inchestcr drive is alive and well and soon to be manufac¬ tured in the UK.
Although Seagate has temporari¬ ly shelved its production model (PCN. issue 16) another US com¬ pany. DMA Systems, has con¬ cluded a deal with UK company Newbury Data. Newbury will dis¬ tribute and eventually manufacture DMA's Micro-Magnum system here.
The Micro Magnum is billed as the first fixed and removable true' Winchester in volume production, The idea is to combine the advan¬ tages of mass data storage and fast access with the ability to remove the media floppy-style.
One 5'/<in Winchester drive is fixed in the unit along conventional lines, while a second drive accepts cartridges containing identical hard disks.
Newbury has renamed the sys¬ tem the Newbury Data 505 and has stocks awaiting dealers. End-user prices are expected to be around the £2,000 mark. The company will begin manufacturing here in November and in the meantime w ill import stocks from the US. The system's drives have identical ac¬ cess times and a capacity of 5Mb.
Newbury is also promising a low-cost 5Mb cartridge disk drive for the first quarter of 1984. This removable-only unit is expected to cost around £1 .000.
Stocks of Newbury's removable Winchester are swatting boaters.
lie Corked
by Niget Cross
Those of you who have or are about to purchase a European Apple lie could find you have a problem. It has become apparent that the mother-board has undergone a design change in Cork.
This re-design is thought to have been in order to allow the correct colour signal generation for the European market (ie PAL/
Primary aim
By November Spectrum users should be able to buy educational software under a joint Sinclair/ Macmillan label
The first batch of about ten titles will focus on reading and science, while mathematics titles will be out next year Prices are expected to be around £9.
The programs are aimed at 5-1 1 year olds for both home and school use. they can be used on their own or with specialist Macmillan pub¬ lications. says the manufacturer.
They will sell through Sinclair outlets and from Macmillan. Basingstoke (0256) 29242.
SECAM). Unfortunately, this re¬ latively small adjustment to the design has been structured in such a way as to move the auxiliary port closer to slot 3 (where they arc wired in parallel, thus being mutually exclusively in use). No real hardship here, but for reasons best known to Apple both RAM and ROM have been moved This small adjustment is where for some US-designed and manu¬ factured interfaces, the problems begin. For instance, the voice input
module (VIM) from Voice Machine Communications requires the installation of a card in one of the I/O slots plus another PCB to be located piggy back fashion on the motherboard. In the US there is no problem. In the UK. nochancc— it just doesn't fit. How many other interfaces this is likely to affect is a matter of conjecture .
Apple ( UK) was not aware of this until very recently. It says the responsibility for the connection lies with the manufacturer.
Marfac* necessary to communicate with the drives is housed in a special console unit which actually fits under the Spectrum, leaving the keyboard on a Standard typist's slant’. The top of the unit has a female edge-connection and the computer, so we are informed, simply slides up the console and connects. The edge connector is continued at the roar of the console and connects. It is continued at the rear of the console so you can configure the printer.
Workshop softens Lisa
by Richard King
Apple's flagship and putative mas¬ terpiece. Lisa, has come a step closer to being a real computer rather than a neat but expensive executive bauble. Apple has re¬ leased Workshop, the first of a line of development software for the machine Future availability' of Toolkit 1 Owas also announced, but no details beyond 'it does some amazing things'
Workshop consists of an environ¬ ment. in the Lisa tradition, which provides a mouse-editor, windows, ikons and soon. Everything is done
with the mouse, and all similar functions are done in identical ways, as one has come to expect from Lisa.
The programs may be written in Pascal. Basic PI us or Micro Focus level 2 Cobol . but a 68000 assembler is also available. Jobs may also be done in the background, so time- consuming but automatic tasks such as cross-references and printouts can be done without clogging up the machinery.
One of the benefits of using a real 16-bit processor, as opposed to a half-baked impostor, is that it is
much easier to compile programs into pure machine code. Instead of interpreted p-code with its in-built sluggishness, you get much of the real speed of a good fast chip.
Also included in the package is QuickDraw, a graphics language which does the clever typesetting and drawing that makes Lisa so spectacular, but this is available only from Pascal.
Prices arc BasicPIus £240. Micro Focus Level 2 Cobol £800. Pascal £480. They will be available in August from Lisa Information Cen¬ tres. Toolkit will come later.
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
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Acorn is upstaged
By David Guest
Big fleas, voit'ssaid. have little fleas to bite them.
And there was Acorn occupying centre stage at the BBC Micro User Show, outmanoeuvred and often bitten by little fleas. With no Electrons, second processors, speech modules or T ubes to serve as insect repellent. Acorn saw its exhibits matched and surpassed by many of the other, lesser-known companies.
Its display consisted of new games and educational software that were advertised some time ago but are only just out. A spokesman declared that the company's pur¬ pose in Manchester last week was to cram machines on to the stand to let as many people as possible try out the packages.
In a limited way this is a worthy aim. but there was much chuckling up sleeves on other stands where far more was on display. And poor Acorn even got stung by the public — reluctant to disturb the packag¬
ing of its software offerings by removing the cassettes, it put them on display intact and promptly lost a few to light-fingered visitors.
Elsewhere, legitimate transac¬ tions were taking place Pace Soft¬ ware Supplies did a brisk trade with its Disk Filing System , and Watford Electronics sold out of its 13 ROM Socket board. At the Asky Com¬ puting stand something more sinis¬ ter seemed to be happening — a smartly tumed-out Japanese gent¬ leman was asking questions of the proprietors in fractured English. Industrial espionage in Manches¬ ter? No, but the object of his interest was a plotting program.
Nobody reported many sales of books, but this was a serious show for literature and educational soft¬ ware seemed to have the upper handoverthc games. Unless thisisa false impression the BBC's en¬ dorsement of Acorn's micro is serving its purpose.
And it's getting the message across the generation gap. which
might be assumed to thrive in Manchester if it does anywhere in the country. For sure there was a new software house born of the talent of a 17-ycar-old prodigy, but visitors to the show were of all ages and they had to be dedicated last Saturday to spend much time in the Renold Building of UMIST (Uni¬
versity of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology).
The heat in the hall was of tropical intensity and the crowd would have done justice to a United/City derby match. One visitor grumbled gently: 'You can’t get a pass out. So you stay in- . . . and pass out.'
OutPaced
The pressure on Acom's Disk Filing System (DFS) is growing with the launch of Pace Software Sup¬ plies' Amcom DFS at less than a third of Acorn's price.
The Pace system, written by Chesham software producer Amcom, is implemented in a single KK EPROM, It claims full compati¬ bility with Acorn's 16K DFS and according to Pace it gives you some extra features.
These include the ability to store up to 63 Files per disk, with file names of up to 15 characters
Nor does it make any demands on user memory , since mi part of the DFS is moved into RAM. Other features arc a built-in formatter and the ability to use any Acorn- compatible disk.
The Amcom DFS is available now . It comes with a manual and Fitting instructions for £29.95 from Pace on Bradford (0274) 575973.
. . . Watford plugs the gap
Watford Electronics was showing off another DFS. again undercut¬ ting Acorn and offering extra features.
This is a 16K implementation which will give you a maximum of 62 . Fields per disk side, and it uses the same amount of RAM a* Acorn's version. Watford says it will read
40-track disks on 80-irack drives, including Acomsoft protected games disks, and that there is no need to switch between 62 and 31 file modes.
'Fhe ROM itself costs £42.
Watford also demonstrated a 13 ROM socket board — this is intended mainly to give you the capacity for more ROM-based software but it will also take I6K of RAM which is switched into opera¬ tion by any Write signal to the sideways ROM area
The board is supplied ready -built for £35. For more information contact Watford Electronics on Watford (0923) 405KK.
Full marks for Clares
Local software supplier Clares of Winsford won the ultimate acco¬ lade for its educational software — visiting teachers thought it was excellent.
The products were largely for children of pre-school and primary school ages But Intro, a Logo-like language, will probably appeal to children of up to three score years and ten.
It uses the visual techniques of turtle graphics to demonstrate programming concepts and methods in a mathematical context. Its main difference from Logo, at first sight, is in the screen layout where a section is given to you as a
scratchpad area with room for 20 or more instructions. Intro costs £7.95.
Some of Clares' utilities were also impressive. Its £5 joystick routine converts non-joystick programs to use joysticks and it gives you the opportunity to vary their sensitivity through the software . The routine is relocatable and vou can save it in 100 bytes.
Clares is on (06065) 51374.
Torchure
Look out on July 20 for the silliest event of the year so far — the Torch Cambridge-to-Bradford run As in the prelude to the Olympic Games, a Torch will be carried by a runner up the Great North Road But thisTorch won't be an immortal flame — more like 35lbs of micro, unless Torch comes out with some¬ thing lighter in its July 4 product launch extravaganza.
Sideways RAM from Ikon . . .
The company that stole a march on Acorn with its Hobbit storage system has pressed home its advan¬ tage by launching a sideways RAM board for the BBC Micro Ikon Computer Products re¬ leased its Zero Memory option at the show, but it doesn't expect to have the unit available in produc¬ tion quantities for another four to
Five weeks. The unit will give you about 9.5K. makes no demand on the machine's existing user memory and comes with a utility program that is intended to solve the prob¬ lem of transferring software (in machine code or Basic) from a cassette to a Hobbit {PCN. issue
15).
The board will cost £29.95.
In response to public demand Ikon has smartened up the Hobbit. The floppy tape system now comes in a trim cream box with an ‘improved' manual.
. . . and IEEE opens Beeb
If you get fed up with waiting for a BBC disk system you can always plug in a Commodore one.
Bradford OfFice Systems demon¬ strated at the show a new device from Cambridge Systems Technol¬ ogy that adds an IEEE interface to the BBC micro. It comes complete with an KK EPROM that allows the user to hook up a Commodore disk drive and access data and programs on the Commodore disks.
The device, called the CSTpro- cyon. costs £325. In addition to its use with Commodore drives it can be used to hook up any other IEEE drive such as data logging equip¬ ment. plotters and scicntiFic equip¬ ment.
Bradford Office Systems is on (0274) 726783.
PCN JUNE 30-JULY *>, I9K3
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
H3HEM3
Pret a porter Zita micro
The style-conscious executive should note that ITCS has re¬ vamped its Andromeda Zita port¬ able
The Executive (an increasingly
common tag) comes in a leather carrying case, with an optional monogram.
Standard features are a 10m screen. 128K main memory, and a Z80 running CP/M 2.2. Storage is provided by two or three 1Mb floppy disk drives or a range of hard disks from 5 to 24Mb. Thccharacter set includes pixel characters to give a resolution of 160 x 75 and there arc RS232, IEEE488 and Centro¬ nics interfaces.
Prices start from around £1,600 and include a free voucher for ITCS software worth £2.500 and valid for two years . This allows you tochoose what software you want bundled with the machine from ITCS's range of proprietary packages.
Ihc Andromeda Zita Executive joins a choice of 90 different
custom-built models, including desk-top and portable systems sold under ITCS's special lease scheme . Purchase of ITCS software gives the buyer the ‘loan’ of a free machine
ITCS was set up in 1981 withacall on £500,000. The Andromeda range was established lastycar with the Zita P. which ITCS claims was the world's first portable to use a Z80 with a floppy and to offer a 5 Vain Winchester hard disk. These drives are supplied by the UK manufacturer Rodimc. making ITCS one of the strongest flag wavers in the UK micro building business Rodime has since laun¬ ched 3'/iin Winchesters ( PCS issue 1).
ITCS and a choice of maroon, black or brown leather is one Ashford (07842) 47371.
FAST CARO — This tightly -packed tttla card «M Mom users of the Euro-6 bus to pkif « really fast
In fact this is mm of tbo ‘baby’ members of the Eureka family, the 6*008, which looks Ilka an S-Mt to tbo rest of the system.
Tbo card is produced in Finland and should be svattaMo in about four
PCN Charts
PCN Charts give you an up-to-the-minute guide to the action in Britain's High Street stores. They’re updated every two weeks, so you can follow the rise and fall of the top-selling games and micros.
PCN Charts are compiled from both independent and multiple sources across the nation. They don’t take account of mail order sales, and in the case of the micro charts deposit-only orders are
also excluded. The prices quoted include VAT, and are for the no-frills models.
Both micro and games charts this week show what was selling best in the two-week period up to June 16. Our next update w ill be published in two weeks' time.
PCN Charts are compiled b> MRIB (Computers), London. (01) 408 0250.
GAMES
TOP THIRTY
GAME TITLE
1 (2) The Hobbit
2 (4) Arcadia 3(1) Donkey King
4 (3) Flight Simulation
5 (16) Transylvanian
Tower
6 (12) Horace Goes Skiing Psion
PUBLISHER
Melbourne House Imagine Microdeal Psion
Richard Shepherd
7 (9) Parsec • (29) Gridrunncr , • (— ) Trader
’ 10 (7) Miner 2049er , 11 ( — ) Attack of the Mutant Camels ’ 12 (8) Blitz , 13 (24) Moon Raider > 14 (25) 3D Tunnel
15 (19) TI Invaders
16 (— ) Crazy Kong
17 (5) Penetrator
1* (6) Panic
10 (18) Zaxxon
20 (— ) Jet Pack
21 (— ) Schizoids
22 (10) Croaker
23 (— ) Preppie II
24 ( — ) Frenzy
Texas
Ouicksilva Big Five
MACHINE PRICE
Spectrum £14.95 Spectrum £5.50 Dragon £8 Spectrum £5.95 Spectrum £6.50
Spectrum £5.95 TI 99 £25 95
Vic 20 £6
Spectrum £9.9S Atari £28.95 Cmdr64 £8.50
Program Power New Generation Texas
Interceptor Micros Melbourne House Bugbyte Datasoft Ultimate Imagine Program Power Atari
Ouicksilva
£4.99
£6.95
Vic 20 BBC Spectrum £4.95 TI 99 £17.95
Vic 20 £6
Spectrum £6.95 Vic 20 £7
Atari BBC
£29.90
£5.50
Spectrum £6.00
£7.99
£21.95
A 25 ( — ) Maze Death Race PSS
26 (23) Flight
27 (II) Planet of Death 2S (13) Choplifter
29 (26) Hungry Horace
30 (22) Cosmic Invaders
Tansoft
Artie
Btoderbund
Psion
Dragon Data
BBC Atari Spectrum £4.95 Spectrum £4.95 Oric £7.95 Spectrum £6.95 Atari £29.95 Spectrum £5.95 Dragon £19.95
HARDWARE
Top Twenty up to £1,000
► i 0)
A 2 (6)
A 3 (7)
▼ 4 (3)
▼ * (2)
A 6 is,
▼ 7 (4)
▼ • (5) A 9 (11)
► 10 (10)
▼ H (9) A 12 (13) A 13 (15)
▼ 14 (I2» A 15 (17) ► 16 (16) A 17 (20) A 1* (-)
▼ 19 (14)
▼ 20 ( 19)
MODEL
Sinclair Spectrum Dragon 32 Vic 20 ZX81 BBC B Atari 800 Atari 400 Oric 1
Ncwbrain A Lynx 48 Texas TI 99 Colour Genie Commodore 64 Epson HX20 Apple HE Sharp MZ80A Sord M5
Jupiter Ace Tandy Colour
£200
£150
£40
£399
£300
£150
£100
£228
£225
£150
£224
£345
£472
£969
£549
£218
£549
DISTRIBUTOR
(SI)
(DR)
(CO)
(SI)
(AC)
(AT)
(AT) (OR) (OR)
(CA) (TI)
(LO)
(CO)
(EP)
(AP)
(SH)
(SO)
(LL)
(JU)
(TA)
Top Ten over £1,000
A 1 (2) Sirius I A 2 (3) IBM PC A 3 (4) Apple 3
▼ 4 (1) Osborne 1
A 5 (6) Commodore 8032 A • (— ) Olivetti M20 A 7 (8) DEC Rainbow A • (— ) Rair Black Box
▼ • (5) HP86A
► 10 (10) Superbrain II
£2.754
£2,392
£2.780
£1,581
£1.129
£2.754
£2,714
£2.242
£1,541
£2.070
(ACT)
(IBM)
(AP)
(OS)
(CO)
(OL)
(DEC)
(RAIR)
(HP)
(IQ
AC Acorn Coi
s ACT
International CA - Camputcrs CCS — Colt Computer Syi Commodore DCC Digital DR Dragon Data. EP Epson CA — Grundy Business HP — Hewlett-Packard Ml— IBM K — Icarus C omputers JU Jupiter Cantab L0 Lowe Electronics. U— Lucas Logic. 01 Olivetti OR Oric 0»— Osborne Computers Corporation SA — Sanyo SH - Sharp SI - Sinclair SO Sord 7A — Tandy H — Texas Instruments.
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
don’t MISS THIS INCREDIBLE OFFER !
50 GAMES £9 95/ f&-
CASSETTE 50 FOR YOUR MICRO JWf
IjAial’ic aiiAuk va.'1 “ fl jf
( S»At I • •••.•■ I H H I * 1 * - §
CLZ^Si^t)
rasraug
SOFTWi
NOW AVAILABLE
FOR I i^^ll III'1 L
Sinclair- #****
SPECTRUM
zxbi vie. aa
LYNX rvnip |
DRAGON _
/ITA#?/ OO0AB
g SOFTWARE
■ CASCADES HOUSE 3 BARGANS LANE m LLANDOGO m GWENT H SWALES NPS4PA
DIRECT MAIL ORDER FORM
T*
s urn I r ctssrrn s lmk<v .hrqwr/ I'll
MAIL ORDER ONLY
DATABASE
BBC MICRO (32 K) DRAGON 32 ORIC 1 (48K) SINCLAIR ZX81 (16K) SPECTRUM (16K/48K)
The DATABASE represents the very latest in information retrievel reporting systems. Ideal for business and especially at home, can be used for endless filing applications by beginner or expert, for hobbies or collections etc. Features include dynamic variable length data, sort, powerful search and erasure. Fully ‘menu’ driven and incorporates user personalisation, save/load and printer options etc. We sincerely believe this is the lowest cost, professional standard DATABASE on the market.
Exclusive unbeatable price of only £4.95 fully inclusive of manual, DATABASE software cassette and 1 st class post.
Send cheque of P.O. to: DATABASE SYSTEMS, Dept PCN 82 Towers Road, Poynton, Cheshire SKI 2 IDF.
PROGRAMMERS — 35% guaranteed royalties with optional cash advance for any good software. Send now for evaluation.
DEALERS WANTED
PCN JUNE JO-JULY 6. IMK3
iWi'iUKiuin*
1H
0$ war cools
The Digital Research Microsoft battle has thrown up an unexpected bonus for users. Digital Research is plugging all its language compilers into Microsoft's PC-DOS operating system.
PL/I. Pascal. Cobol. Basic. C. and a pile of Digital Research's utility packages are going on to the IBM PC under PC-DOS during the next two months. But company founder and president Gary Kildall insists the move isstrikinga blow for portability, and that it isn't an admission of defeat for CP/M-86
Instead he's making a lot of noise about the as yet little-seen multi¬ tasking system Concurrent CP/ M-86 'Microsoft has inadvertently blessed Concurrent CP/M-86 by
saying they'll do their own version.' he says while dismissing Unix as a paper tiger'
Nor has CP M-86 been seen off by Microsoft, he claims. ‘MSDOS isn't our competition. PC-DOS is. and the two are very different. We aren't selling languages for MSDOS We reckon MSDOS and CP/M-86 are equivalent, and both of them are a bridging strategy to multi-tasking systems .'
He says Digital Research is aiming to end the OS duel by developing a switchablc operating system that can mimic the operating software of your choice. And work is also going on to get Concurrent CP/M up and running on top of PC-DOS — for September.
We will also be seeing Digital Research products for much smal¬ ler micros this year, says Mr Kildall . as the company has just set up a consumer products division.
That division will be bringing out educational software written in Logo, which Mr Kildall says will replace Basic, for diskless machines such as the Commodore 64. It may also develop a scaled-down CP/M for non-disk micros and portables such as the Epson HX-20.
There's no real reason why the CPM family should mean only disk systems.' says Mr Kildall. 'Casset¬ te-based systems are now appearing with enough memory to have something approaching an operat- ing system like CP M
Four-colour at a stroke by Seikosha
A single-pass colour printer has been launched by Seikosha and should be available next month.
The GP-70UA, which will cost £425, uses a four-colour ribbon and four print-hammers to print any combination of colours in one go. Most printers require several passes to print in colour.
The machine is distributed in the UK by DRG Business Machines, which says that the GP-700A can print in 30 shades selected from seven basic colours.
The printer will be Pro-Tested in PCN.
DRG is on 01-622 3434.
Eight games from Abbex await the 4N Laser
Abbex opens fire with Laser
With the £70 Laser ( PCN. issue 16) in the shops next month. Abbex Electronics hopes to cash in with the release of new packages
It has about 30 titles planned for the I6K version of the Laser But for starters it has brought out eight games for the 4K machine — Laser Chase. Laser Bykes. 3-D Maze. Laser Invaders. Laser Shoot-out. Chess. Draughts and Othello — all G 99
Martin Ford, marketing manager
of Abbex. said: We've produced a special Basic for the Laser for people who want to write games. It’s a machine-code type language that uses Basic symbols. And we have written a fo rth package ' h
Abbex also has software pack¬ ages in the pipeline for the Comx 35 ( PCN. issue 12) and the Newbrain. which it hopes to have ready by August.
Contact Abbex on Bedford 213571.
— From the
RS232C interface for tbo Smetmr Spectrum. Tbo m* Is mamif act ured by an ■ctnd to bo avalaMa moo ta tba UK at £4t.M. Tba bn
la baud ratoa from 150 to 19200tpe. « wM ad RS232C interfaces In printers and
RS 232 C INTERFACE
1
j
Prism packs Rumbelow rack
Moves to get software specialist computer shops have taken a step forward with a deal between Prism Micro Products and Rumbelows
In 258 Rumbelows stores Prism will set up software racks to hold products for the Sinclair Spectrum. TI99/4A and the Vic 20 from July. Later there'll be software for the Commodore 64. and Prism hopes to sign up another retailer to extend the scheme.
Though intended mainly to save shopkeepers the burden of ordering and slocking software, it will also bring a range of products into high street stores, and should make it easier to get hold of popular packages.
Prism said last week that it is now distributor for US software makers Sierra On-Line, Sirius Software, and Datasoft. giving it a stronger hand in the Apple. Atari. Com¬ modore and IBM markets.
Sierra's main daim to fame is its origination of Frogger.
Forth bridge
Not many Spectrum owners will have bought the machine because of its potential as a Jupiter Ace. but a small Poole company has pro¬ duced a Forth cartridge to turn your system into a dedicated Forth machine.
David Husband's cartridge takes the place of the Basic ROM in the 16K or 48K Spectrum It carries 12K of FIG-Forth. an RS232 inter face via an 8251 interface chip, and 24 bits of parallel FO via an 8255
Mr Husband predicts that once you've switched out the Basic ROM to make room for the Forth, you won't wanttoswritch back . But since the cartridge, at £49.95. costs close to half what a I6K Spectrum sets you back, he anticipates serious but limited interest in it.
It is on course for an August
launch and will come with a manual and a year's membership of the xForth Users Group
Besides standard FIG-Forth fea¬ tures. the cartridge holds a Z80 Assembler for machine code Forth definitions, a built-in routine to support a modem or allow access to bulletin board systems, a machine code monitor and. not least, an 8K RAM-disk simulation. And it’s been designed to support Micro¬ drives — w hen they appear.
Mr Husband says it contains all the standard FIG-Forth words and gives full use of the colour, sound and graphics facilities of the lan¬ guage He expects routines and applications to come from the User Group.
David Husband is on Bourne¬ mouth (0202) 764724.
PCN JUNE 30-JL’LY 6. 1983
Life beyond VisiCalc
The company that developed Visi- Calc has produced its version of what the business software of the future will look like.
It goes beyond spreadsheets, addresses unstructured problems and leads to a technique known as back-solving According to its de¬ signer it should open a new category of business software
TKISolver, from Software Arts, runs under MSDOS. It is designed to cope with the kind of rather unstructured problems that nor¬ mally need a fairly heavy load of programming, rather than the more dear-cut What-If questions that
VisiCalc and its clones will handle.
•The groups of users who will understand TKISolver at once are the technicians and sdentists. architects and so forth — anybody w ho has to use a lot of equations and formulae .' said Bob Frankston. one of Software Arts' founders.
it will be the answer for anyone whose problems arc not well struc¬ tured, or who needs to solve problems backwards to find out how to get a particular result ' Apart from solving problems backwards from the result — back- solving — TKISolver will also let you make a guess at unknown
values. Then it will carry out a series of calculations — iterative solving — to converge on an answer. And the package will also let you set up conversion tables, to translate pounds, say. to dollars, so you can alter the units in which your answer is expressed.
In addition, you can plot the results, and feed them into pack¬ ages such as VisiCalc using the Data Interchange Formal. It's also likely to run under VisiCorp’s VisiOn operating environment when that comes out in the autumn
TKISolver has been out in the US since January, but it has only just
reached the UK. where it is to be distributed by Marketing Micro Software It's going to cost £286 for the package itself, and there arc also add-on packages selling at £106. providing sets of ready-built models to suit particular applica¬ tions.
Six are already out. each consist¬ ing of a dozen or so models for financial management, electrical engineering, building design and so forth.
But another 80 packages are on the drawing hoard from publisher McGow Mill as well as from Software Arts.
Pegasus takes flight on Rainbows
By August you'll be able to get the full range of Pegasus business software for use on DEC Rain¬ bows.
DEC plans to have MSDOS implemented on the Rainbow by the end of July. Pegasus will adapt its packages for this event, and launch two new systems into the bargain.
The new elements arc Job Cost¬ ing and Sales Order Processing — they join sales, purchase and nominal ledger, invoicing, slock control and payroll.
Prices arc left to Pegasus dealers — Adda Computers of Ealing, for example, charges £3(K) per module and £1 .250 for a set of five.
Allez France with the BBC
No need to worry about following up doubtful postcards in your newsagent's window ; now you can take lessons from your own French Mistress on a BBC Model B.
Kosmos Software's French Mis¬ tress comes in two complementary cassettes covering a range of voca¬ bulary in different subjects, phrases and lists of verbs.
But it aims to go beyond learning by rote and according to Kosmos you can create your own lessons and store them on cassette.
The French Mistress may spare the rod but it docs have a test mode tocheck yourprogress. the machine keeping an eye on your speed and accuracy of translation.
The cassettes cost £9.95 each Kosmos is on Dunstable (05255) 3942.
Epson twins get business applications from APS
If you're running a businevs with an Epson 11X20 orOXIO. APSystems has just broadened your choice of software.
Selling at £25 each are Apwritcr. a word processing package . Receipt Program, which has accounting
facilities to issue invoices, and Restaurant Program, which iter ises receipts at the point of sale.
AP Systems is also designing a network system for the hotel, catering and grocery industries. It is on 01 -399 1257.
EYE FOR DESIGN — Proving that British m
s. For a system witti two displays and twtw lMh Wom»m r— MT CS.9S0. 4BS is on Brighton 10273) 421509
FMS converts for MSDOS
Living down its name as a bird of ill-omen Raven Computers has slashed the price of the FMS 80 database and at the same time adapted it for use on the IBM PC and other MSDOS systems.
FMS 80/86 will now set you back £395. from its previous price of £650. The new entry-level system. FMS 81, is added to Raven's catalogue at £250 — it is upgradable
to the full database management system.
FMS 80 started life as a strictly C'P/M product and Raven claims it is one of the top five best sellers in the CP/M category Its conversion to MSDOS and CP/M-86 is due to be followed by adaptation to other formats.
Raven Computers is on Bradford (0274) 309386
Soft-hearted?
From the depths of darkest West Java, the Centre for Animal Re¬ search sends a plea — can you spare any Apple software?
The centre was given an Apple II , CP/M. disk drive and printer, but no software . With an annual budget of £100 for its computing and statistical operations it can't buy the software it needs — a database.
agricultural applications, and a program for learning exercises.
John Dimcnt. a volunteer at the centre, has written educational and statistical software, but in order to advance, the centre needs help.
If you can help contact John at the Centre for Animal Research. PO Box 123. Bogor. West Java. In¬ donesia.
PCN JUNE30-JULY 6. 1983
Hr. Chip
SOFTWARE
VIC 20 GAMES AND UTILITIES
BUGSY i Jo* nick Only)
You arc in 4 minefield . culled all (he yellow bomb* before the lime runs out by moving on the blue stepping stones. Gain extra time and score by collcding the purplc boxes but watch out for the mines marked with red eras banes. Sounds easy? Every stone you step on disappears, as you move around the screen you leave an empty trail but not to worry, a loveable little green creature called BUGSY moves around randomly filling in the empty spaces but run into him and he turns nasty and your dead Clear the screen and another appears with more mines. How long can you stay ahvc1 A very original, compulsive and challenging game.
JACKPOT
Own your own fruit machine, just like the real thing, with nudge, hold & respin, can you win the jackpot ? Y ou will he amaacd by the graphics . colours and many soundcffccts.withninedifferenltoncs A full machine code programme Averv compulsive game £5.5.
MNMKHJLOTE — PONTOON — HI-LOW
Three great games of chance for the VIC. try to beat the computer . hours of fun . lull colour, sound effect sand lunce £5.50
DATABASE — Create your own files and records nntape (7.50
BANK MANAGER— Computerise your hank account (5.00
SUPER BANK MANAGER — A full feature version any memory sue . but needs IKexpansion (7.50
M/C SOFT — Machine code Monitor and Disassemble r . any memory sue (7.50
COMMODORE 64 GAMES AND UTILITIES
LINAR RESCUE — Our own version ofthat popular arcade game (7.50
PONTOON — ROULETTE — ACE’S HH.H
More powerful versions, that make three great games of chance fix the 64 £7.50
M/C SOET 64 — Assembler and Disassembler, with decimal to hex convener, everything our program for i he VIC will do and more £7.50
BANK MANAGER 64 — Asour Super Bank Manager, but for the 64 (7.50
Full documentation with all utility programs
Other software available for the VIC and Commodore 64. send for free brochure . including RABBIT SOFTWARE tor the VIC. at our Special Offer of £7.50 each or buy two or more at (7.M.
Send Chrqun/PO’s to: MR. CHIP
SOFTWARE
Dept PCN, I NEVILLE PLACE, LLANDUDNO, GWYNEDD LL30 3BL. Tel: 0492 49747
W ANTED; HOT SHOT SOFTWARE WRITER’S. PHONE AND ASK US. ABOUT OUR FAIR DF.AI. POLICY AND TOP ROYALTIES
DEALER ENQUIRIES W ELCOME
PCN J0
**********************************
* ASTROLOGY :
* truly AVAILABLE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS *
t USER PROMPTING PROGRAMS merely key in btrth mlorma- *
* tion as requested by the computer — READ OUT (and or PRINT *
* OUT) what is normally the result of many hours of painstakingly *
* tedious and complex mathematical calculations using tables J
ephemera, etc +
« THE SIDEREAL TIME OF BIRTH *
* THE ASCENDANT AND MIDHEAVEN m Srgn. Degrees. Minutes *
* and Seconds for EQUAL HOUSE SYSTEM *
* THE SIGNS AND POSITIONS OF THE HOUSE CUSPS m Sign. *
* Degrees and Minutes for the PLACIDEAN SYSTEM J
* THE SUN AND MOON POSITIONS in Sign. Degrees. Minutes I
I and Seconds *
« ALL THE PLANETS POSITIONS in Sign. Degrees and Minutes * « THE LUNAR NODE - THE PART OF FORTUNE - THE *
* VERTEX AND A HOST OF OTHER BIRTHCHART INFORMA *
* TION AT THE TOUCH OF A KEY *
* ZX81 16K *
* ZODIAC I ONLY £10.00 *
X ZOOIAC II ONLY £8.00 *
* GIVES YOU THE ASPECTS AND MIDPOINTS *
FOR 48K SPECTRUM AND DRAGON 32
ZOOIAC F
Full combined program on one cassette
FOR ONLY £15.00
* Other programs in course of preparation include PRO-
* GRESSING THE HOROSCOPE RECTIFICATION OF THE
« BIRTH TIME, etc
* Send orders with cheque payable to
J STELLAR SERVICES :
♦ 8 FIR TREE VALE, LEEDS LSI 7 7EY *
l Tel: (0532) 692770 *
******** *** ******** *****»♦****★■*★■*
VIC20 digital
al So CASSETTE DECK
commodore AT A REAUSTIC PRICE
♦ pET COO ~*+nso
lzj. 99 pftp
INCLUDING
5 FREE GAMES
Allow 7 Days Delivery
Fully Compatible Designed by our Engineers - NOT just an Interface unit • AH Cables Included Powered and controlled by your computer - SIMPLY PLUG INI
SPECTRUM
QUICKSHOT
JOYSTICK
from: Quick sitva. Silver-soft, Artie. New Gen etc., etc.
‘ Ottser Programs ONLY
£19
f £1 50 pa P
• Quick shot for A tori I Commodore only £12.99 - n 00 PUP
* Interface unit only available tor use £11.99
with your own Atari type Joystick only * Cl OOPftP
ore; ,em
DATEl '* “
27 HOP! STRICT HANLEY I STOKE ON TRENTM t TEL 0782 27381S P
PCN JUNE J0-JULY6, IWJ
QUESTION
WHERE CAN I BUY
NEWBRAIN A’ 32K NEWBRAIN ‘AD’ 32K SINCLAIR ZX81 IK SINCLAIR SPECTRUM 16K SINCLAIR SPECTRUM 48K ORIC-I 48K
SINCLAIR ZX PRINTER SINCLAIR ZX81 RAM PACK SEIKOSHA GP-250X PRINTER SEIKOSHA G P-1 00 A PRINTER BMC BM12E GREEN MONITOR SANYO SCM12H GREEN MONITOR SANYO SCM12N GREEN MONITOR
£268.00
£298.00
£48.00
£99.00
£129.00
£168.00
£39.00
£28.50
£260.00
£215.00
£100.00
£100.00
£85.00
CARRIAGE: 1 item £4.00, 2 items £3.50 each, 3 items £3.00 each, 4 or more FREE
ANSWER:-
miCRDCELL CamPUTER SVSTECTIS
Don't carry a LOAD on your shoulders, unburden yourself on PCN' s letters page.
Share your thoughts in the UK’s liveliest micro weekly letters columns. Funny, feisty or fanciful, your letter could win you £10 if it’s of star status. WRITE TO: Random Acccvs. Personal Computer News,
VNU . Evelyn 1 louse . b2 Oxford Street . London W I A 2HG
Laws in order
Many thanks to John Reynolds for his 'alternative glossary’ ( PCN . issue 15).
I would like to expand on it by offering a collection of axioms constituting the Alternative Guide to Personal Computing. Smith's laws of micro pur¬ chasing
If you do not seek advice, the chances are you will buy the wrong micro. Seeking advice results in you paying more for the wrong micro.
O'Brian's ordering law The availability of a micro is directly proportional to the time elapsed since its launch. Corollary
By the time yours arrives, it’s obsolete.
International Society of Elec¬ trical Engineers' Laws
If it’s fragile, you’ll drop it.
If it’s reasonably robust, you’ll fall on it.
PCN £10 Star Letter
If it won’t work, give up.
DJ Fazackerley Creigiau, Cardiff
Laws of ancient ROM
After reading Mr Reynolds's alternative glossary of comput¬ ing jargon. I was reminded of a list originally compiled at the end of 1980 by Jim Black and other members of the Newcas¬ tle Personal Computer Society.
I am sure they will not object to my repeating some of that list:
Static RAM A lazy sheep Assembler Someone who buys a Nascom kit
Cross-assembler Someone who can’t get their Nascom to work Syntax It varies — but I believe £25 per hour is the going rate David McAuley Chesler-le-Street, Co Durham
And still they come!
I would like to add the following to John Reynolds's alternative glossary ( PCN . Random Ac¬ cess. issue 15).
Access time The period that expires between the application for and the receipt of a credit card.
Algorithm Digital music. Alpha-numeric Twice as much as a quarter-numeric.
Cursor Bad mannered person. Dedicated chip Loyal fried potato.
Mainframe Important vacuum tube.
Scroll Ancient media.
Carl Thomas Grimsby, S Humberside
The most obvious way of con¬ necting it up is that which results in the most damage.
Onlv irreplaceable parts break. Willhelm's Power I p’ laws Try plugging it in.
If all else fails, read the manual . Cambridge Institute of Mathematics axioms Variables won't Constants aren’t.
GOTOs don’t.
GOSUBs do. but generally don't come back.
Oxford English Society text manipulation laws Text must be handled carefully. The inexperienced user fre¬ quently falls prey to producing output that is badly punctuated, misspelt, or garbled. Thaxioc nokickledip. . . ixi ncxol bow Drain's law of programming
Pros should POKE more
Re Ian Linwood’s letter asking for the whereabouts of a com¬ plete list of useful PEEKs and POKEs for his Spectrum. I think your reply provides the classicCatch 22. or should I say. peerless POKE ’83?
How does one evaluate an address if in the first place one doesn't know who or what abides there? Most dabblers in the micro arts do not have the time and. in most cases, the necessary experience, to pro¬ duce the required lists.
It is here that the profession¬ als can most help. They are paid for their time, their experience, their ‘help’.
If magazines like PCN, with
its very own Micropaedia, can¬ not find the time nor space to publish if not complete, then long, lists of PEEKs and POKEs for the various micros on the market. I think they are failing in the job of growing up with their readers, and guilty of staying with those alien manu¬ facturers of software who arc all front cover but no content.
Wake up. /’< V You arc the biggest weekly micro mag. Be¬ have like the best or else. . .
F Duckworth Orrell, Wigan
Hmmm ... I wonder how many of you really would like us to publish such an alternative manual'. I may be wrong, but isn 7 it fun to delve and discover new PEEKs and POKEs for yourself? Anyway, there's no such thing as a complete list; it's one that runs and runs depend¬ ing on your input. I Anyway , I think we are biggest AND best, but I'm open to suggestions . . .) - Ed
Fuel for fraud?
For those people who keep getting somewhere exciting on Acornsoft’sSphinx Adventure, and then they die. here is a tip.
If it says ‘Your lamp is getting dim’ and you want to carry on and not die after a few more turns, simply push escape and then reset the variable LF(lamp fuel) to about 500 — LF=500(it starts off at 150 so this should give you plenty of time). Then type GOTO 231 and you will start off in the same place as before.
Jeremy Slater Salisbury, Wilts
Clearly a new version of the old genie line — Ed.
Newbrain compiler queried
Does David Janda really think the Newbrain has a Basic com¬ piler or is he just quoting very misleading information sup¬ plied by Grundy which seems to have jumbled buzz phrases into an attractive format?
Basic on the Newbrain may be in token form but it seems to do just the same as all other Basics and interprets line by line (compiles source code to machine axle line by line, if you like), although it does check ahead for loops which some Basics don’t.
A compiler is not so flexible because all the source code (the program listing ) is processed in the one compilation process to object (or machine) code and from that point becomes fixed and uneditable unless a com¬ plete recompilation takes place which, on early IBM System 3 Basic compilers, could take 50 minutes, before you could use your program.
Anthony D Hodge Wakefield. W Yorks
Sorry to confuse. Many people define a compiler as a program which produces independent object code which can be run independently from the main compiler. But some runtime routines have to be in memory when object code is running. The Newbrain doesn tallow you to do this, but it has a pre¬ compiler of sorts.
Newbrain calls its compiler an interactive compiler. In a sense it’s a threaded code compiler. But it's not a Basic interpreter in the normal sense. However, those in the know at PCN do believe that the Newbrain Basic is a compiler — Ed.
A better editor wanted
I think one of the all-time, most user un-friendly features a com¬ puter can have is the Basic editor. The most difficult editor that I have learnt to use is the Microsoft editor, as used on the Dragon and Video Genie. This includes useless commands such as ‘X’ which is the same as pressing RETURN.
The simplest editor 1 have come across so far is the one used on the Vic 20 (among others), in which all you need to do is position the cursor using arrow keys for the direction in which you want to go and then start typing.
Wouldn’t it be good if all editors were changed to this kind of system?
Could it ever happen or will it be rejected by the It’s too late to change now' or 'This editor is the best anyway’ attitudes which have already ruined any chance that Basic had of becom¬ ing standardised?
Julian Skidmore Trowel!, Notts
The more you nag, the quicker this will be put right — nr hope -Ed.
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 11(0
Despite what * we say, we come but to praise them.
We think they make fine macnmes. And they’re probably the most well- known computer manufacturer you’ve ever heard of.
So rather than just ask you to compare our CAL personal computer with just anyone’s personal computer, we’d like you to compare it with IBM’s. (Plus the new DEC machine and the Siriustoo, if you like).
Pure self interest. Our self interest and your self interest.
To begin with, price is a big plus for the CAL personal computer. In general, we work out about 33% less expensive.
But price is only a small part of the story.
The CAL personal computer can take 8 bit and 16 bit software.
The keyboard is identical to the
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
or the option of RS 422 ports. For operating systems
"BET YOU WISH YOU WERE BRITISH, 'Vcpw/mk: ALMOST 33% LESS EXPENSIVE, HAD \
SAND 16 BIT PROCESSORS WITH ) system cals FULL MULTI-USER CAPABMTT^A ^”5
terminal system with remote visual display units.
Depending on your experience so far, some of this will sound impressive, or some of it will sound like gobbledygook.
In either instance well be only too happy to tell you more.
The CAL PC is the latest product toemerge from Computer Ancillaries: a British company that’s successfully produced the CALtextword processor and the Durango computer range.
Asa British company, we offer a fully established on-site service and support facility from our own engin¬ eering staff throughout the U K and Eire.
Which, with all due respect to our American friends, tends to put the icing on the cake so far as you’re concerned.
Please ring or write now for further information.
I BM PC. Very easy to use. A detached 71 key unit.
When it comes to languages the CAL PC features Basic, Cobol, Fortran, Pascal and Multi UserMicrocobol.
The CAL gives you two 400K floppy discs as standard. Plusan inbuilt 5MB, 10MB, 15MB or 20MB hard disc.
The CAL PC has RS 232, Centronics
MS Dl
□ PI
□ la
□ Plea* send me further information on the CAL PC
□ I am a dealer and would like more details My current mam line product is
Company _ Address _
Computer Ancillaries Limited
64 High Street Egham. Surrey TW209EY
Tel (0784)36455
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6, l«U
MICROWAVES"
Scaled a new PEEK in microcomputing? If printed your tip will earn you a fiver.
If you’ve got something to crow about ... a bit of magic that'll make the world a better place for micro users, then send it to PCN Microwaves— our regular readers’ hints and tips page. We’ll pay you £5 if we print it. We’ll pay y ou even more if your little gem gets our vote as microwave of the month. Think on . . . and write to Micro- waves, PCS'. 62 Oxford Street, London YV1A2HG.
Scroll up for The One
Vertical scrolling on the Oric 1? Up or down? To go up try:
10 PLOT 10,26. “Scroll up- 20 PRINT CURS (10)
30 GOTO 20
to go down, try
20 PLOT 10,0, “Scroll down"
10REM** INTEGER CIRCLE DRflUING**CBRl TH0HRS**MflY 83**
200*70 i X* 1 27 , Y*85 , CLERR4 , C*D ; MQVE< X+D ) , < Y+C > ; P-C
30DOORflW< X+D >, < Y+C D*D-C/5> C-C+D/3, U. P*C > DRRW< X+D > , < Y+C )> P. *7
40END
Figure 1: How to make your Atom go around in more refinod circle*.
One a reformed character
It’s great to be able to repro¬ duce teletext graphics on the Oric. But it is plain annoying to discover that the pixel charac¬ ters are wrongly designed.
The imaginary vertical line used to divide the character cell into two columns is placed between the second and third pixels from the left. It should really be in the middle. Perhaps Oric used a pre-production Oric to divided six by two!
If you want to go back to sensible definitions, try this routine:
10 FOR A= #B800 TO #BB7F
20 IF PEEK (A) = 240 THEN POKE A .56
30 IF PEEK (A) - 15 THEN POKE A ,7 40 NEXT Chris Thompson,
Orpington, Kent
30 PRINT CHRS (11) CHRS
OD
40 gGOTO 30 HSLim.
Manchester
Big screen for the Vic
This short routine will let you have a 28 x 36 character screen on your unexpanded Vic 20:
10 POKE 56.28: POKE 52,28: CLR
20 REM LOWER HIMEM
TO $2800
30 POKE 36866,28: POKE 36867.72
40 POKE 36864.7: POKE
36865,19
The routine uses up ViK (from 7168 to 7680) to give a 1 K screen display. Characters can be POKEd to the screen as normal, but the address of the top left corner w ill be 7168. Anon.
Stirckley, Birmingham.
Would the author of the above . like to send us his or her name? You won’t receive your just rewards if we don’t know who you are — Ed
Spectrum adds white noise
The Spectrum’s sound ability lacks a ‘white noise' function. The short machine code prog¬ ram in figure 2 (below) provides a reasonable imitation. Once the routine has been loaded, you can set the duration ( POKE 32583) or frequency of the noise (POKE 32589) and call the routine with RANDOMIZE USR 32581 . The routine can be
SAVEd with SAVE “NAME- CODE 32581.16.
48K users might like to locate the program higher up in memory.
Rupert Goodwins,
Plymouth
Beware of the 64 bug
Commodore 64 owners may have noticed a bug which will crash the machine. It occurs if the user is on the bottom line of the screen, keys in a program line which spills onto the next line, presses ‘return’ and then presses ‘delete’ to try to edit the line. The 64 locks up com¬ pletely.
But fear not! The bug only occurs in certain colours . . . Black. White. Purple. Yellow. Orange, Brown. Medium Grey and light green are all safe. Steve Binks,
Brough, Yorkshire
More joy for Tl 99/4A users
If you are having trouble with the joysticks on your TI 99/4A. check the Alpha lock. For some reason, if this is engaged, the upward movement of the joys¬ ticks is disabled.
A S Jones,
Norwich
Acorn’s Atom Pis released
The circle drawing routine in figure 1 (above) will interest you if your Atom has 6K graphics but no floating point ROM . X and Y are the centre of
the circle and the radius is proportional to D. You can adapt the routine to draw elipses by altering C and D. Carl Thomas,
Grimsby, South Humberside
Read all about the Lynx
Lynx users wishing to short cut KEYS may be interested to know how to read the keyboard directly. This is achieved by examining the relevant input ports.
For example, the port re¬ sponsible for the left and right arrows is &980. Hence INP(&980) gives:
255 for no keys pressed 251 left arrow pressed 223 right arrow pressed 219 both arrows pressed
Three useful ports are:
&980 ], delete, return
&8U t . 1 . shift, shift lock, 1 &480 Space bar. B.H.T.G Mark Naylor,
Watford, Herts
Lynx wears shorter sorts
I refer to John Moulson’s ‘Short sort for the Lynx’, (Microwaves issue 14): isn't the bubble sort method slow enough without this timewaster? The fact is that the Lynx, like many other micros, can compare strings with ‘>‘(but not withe'). To prove this just DEL 140.150, and DEL 210, 330 in his program, then add the follow¬ ing line:
210 IF A$ (G)>AS (F) THEN GOTO 370.
The program will now run at least twice as fast and takes up far less memory.
Admittedly, this comparison technique is not mentioned in the manual, but if other micros can do it. then why can't the Lynx? Indeed, owners who go solely by the book (and take reviewers' words as gospel) may have been led to believe that the Lynx docs not have a STRS function. Not so! Just try LET AS = STRS (A). Simple ain’t it.
D Messenger,
Wareham, Dorest
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. IVK3
SOFTEK
URGENTLY REQUIRE 280/6502 PROGRAMMERS
WE ARE BRITAIN’S LEADING DEVELOPERS OF MICROCOMPUTER SOFTWARE, AND HAVE AN UN¬ BEATABLE RANGE OF EXCITING GAMES FOR THE MOST POPULAR MACHINES.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOUNG, DYNAMIC, INNOVA¬ TIVE PEOPLE TO PRODUCE ORIGINAL IDEAS ON A FREELANCE BASIS
TURN YOUR FA VOURITE HOBBY INTO HARD CASH! ALL REPLIES TREATED IN THE STRICTEST CONFIDENCE
SOFTEK, 329 CROXTED ROAD, LONDON SE24
01 -674 4572 _
FOR BBC MICROCOMPUTER
Software
FORTH ROM and documentation . £34.72 + VAT
Manual ( for newcomers to FORTH) . £6.75
Hardware and Accessories
TORCH drives and operating system E780.00+VAT Printers, drives etc . . . . Please phone for quote
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FORTH ROM + documentation . £34.72 + VAT
(Manual available shortly)
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EXPANSION UNIT. VDU Interface etc . Please phone for quote
COMING SOON FOR BBC MICRO
FORTH FLOATING POINT EXTENSION (ROM) COMPUTER AIDED LEARNING PACKAGE
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PCN JULY 7- JULY 13. I«3
[EMSMEEBMSm
Lost in a maze of bits and bytes, trapped in a forest of errors, or bugged by Basic.’ Whatever your problem, access our HELP function . . . better known as Max Phillips.
Write to: Max Phillips, Routine Inquiries. Personal Computer News. VNU, Evelyn House.
62 Oxford Street. London W I A 2Hti _
My Pet can’t spell
QMy dad owns a Commod¬ ore Pel which can't spell. When you turn it on it says: Commodore Basic *•* 7167 “y tes Free Ready .
The machine is an old ROM. 2001 series. What chip is re¬ sponsible for this?
Thomas Phillips,
Kettering, Northants
A This is a strange one. Like the 2001. you should attempt to preserve it rather than fix it. Maybe you should have your Pet stuffed.
The fault is two bits in the *C to hash' error and three bits in the B to quote’. Theoretically, it’s a ROM fault, the chips where the boot messages are stored. But it’s so far fetched as to be unbelievable.
You could try buying a new set of ROMS .but try them out before actually paying for them. If it's the only thing wrong with the Pet. I’d ignore
_ _
The CP/M story told
Qln part I of the Spectrum Micropaedia {PCN issue 14) it said that ‘the Spectrum's Z80A can't run the CP/M business operating system*. This was mentioned as a dis¬ advantage of the Z80A .
Surely, the ability to run CP/M also depends on other factors, such as support chips. For example, the Lynx uses a 4MH/ 7JHIA and Camputers hopes to release CP/M for the machine in September.
Clive Newton,
Cumbran, Gwent.
A Micropaedia wasn’t wrong ... it was just a little misleading. Being able to run CP/M depends on a couple of things . . having an KiWOcom- patible processor (8080.8085 or Z80) and having RAM in low memory.
CP/M was developed for the 8080. Intel’s 8085 and Zilog’s Z80 are basically the same chip with brass knobs on. So any Z80 will run CP/M. But not the one
in the Spectrum . . .
CP/M divides neatly into several pieces. From 0 to 100 hex in memory is used for bits and pieces, primarily for pas¬ sing information between Cl*/ M and programs. From 100 hex onwards is the TPA or transient program area. CP/M loads your programs here. It goes on but the main point is that this memory must be RAM. If it were fixed ROM. CP/M just wouldn't go.
The Spectrum's memory map has its 16K ROM in this area, from 0 to 4000 hex. So, as it stands, you couldn’t put CP/M up on the Spectrum .
There are other moral objec¬ tions. CP/M will work with anything that can print charac¬ ters out in a row. But most CP/M programs assume you have an 80 column by 24 line display.
Of course, someone will now sit down and prove me wrong. You can put CP/M up on anything . . . using monkeys’ rule that you can do anything provided you are prepared to sit down and develop it. The Torch Z80 disk pack for the BBC is a good example.
Which must leave you in some confusion as to the Lynx. Yes. it’s got ROM (the Basic) from 0 to 4000 hex. But the thing about the Lynx is that you can switch the ROM off and have RAM there instead.
One flicker fears
Q Recently, I tried out the sound facilities on a 48R erne I in my local John Menzies. As a prospective buyer, 1 was disgusted to see the display jump and flicker whenever the speaker emitted a sound. I have heard that a change in the power supply has cured this fault. But if this is so. why are faulty (and I consider the dicker a fault! Ones still being sold?
Where can I get a nicker-free Oric?
D Winston,
Burghmuir, Perth
A Early Oric's did suffer from a flickering screen whenev¬ er sound was produced. Newer production models seem to have lost the problem.
Why then, can you still buy Orics with this problem? It’s got a lot to do with the cost of returning and replacing large
stocks of machines.
So what do you do? You could wait and search until you Find a dealer selling flicker free machines. Or you could spend your money elsewhere.
My Oric draws a blank
SI own a 48 K Oric 1 and have come across a problem le trying to develop a prog¬ ram. In it, I use strings such as Y$=CHR$( l30( + **a char¬ acter”.
I thought this would display the character in green. It does if I use a PRINT statement but if I use a more convenient PLOT statement, it displays a blank square before the character.
I can't dnd a way round this. W hat's happening?
Philip Prince,
London NW6
A Oric attributes do seem to be confusing. I don't think you’ve a real problem here. It's a question of picking the right codes. As you know . whenever you use an attribute (that is change colour or flash the text and so on), that attribute uses up a space on the screen.
In your case, the 130 means 'set the foreground colour to green’. On the Oric. any code with its high bit set (that's greater than 128 in decimal) instructs the computer to dis¬ play characters in •inverse’. So with 130, you get an inverse space rather than a white space before your character. If you’re on a white screen, you get a black hole before your green stuff.
That’s if you PLOT it. Now a funny thing happens with PRINT. It seems that the PRINT routines turn the high bit off. If vou PRINT CHRS(130);“X". the attribute that actually gets used is 2. So you get a white space before the green character, not a black one.
So why don't you avoid the top set of attributes (from 128 to 159) when you use PRINT? Simply because there are other uses associated with PRINTing CHRSO with axles from 0 to 32. These are the control codes for things like Caps Lock. Key click. Cursor on/off and so on.
These are listed on page 146 of the manual opposite the incredibly cryptic list of attri¬ bute axles. If you PRINT one
of these control codes, it is intercepted and the relevant toggle switched . . . the keyboard click is changed or whatever.
So. although you can see PRINT CHRS in the range 0 to 32 for most attributes (eg. green or yellow) you’ll find that some codes don’t make it. All you ha ve to do to avoid this is use the top set of codes, simply by adding 128 to the attribute you want.
If you don’t believe me. reset your Oric and try PRINT CHRS(6) -‘Silence is cyan”. Here the 6 as an attribute should make the text appear in cyan . But it's taken as a control code . So the key-click is switch¬ ed off.
Now type PRINT CHRSO 34) - Silence is cyan ”. Here, the 134 isn’t a control code. So it’s used as an attri¬ bute. The PRINT routines turn the high bit off. so the code becomes 6. which is cyan.
Fun. isn’t it? So it’s just a question of picking the right codes to use with POKE. PLOT and PRINT With POKE and PLOT, you can use either the 0 to 32 or the 128 to 160 axles. The top set however, will pro¬ duce inverse effects. With PRINT, you use the codes from 128 to 160 but they give’normal’ effects.
The key to Vic success
Ql’ve recently purchased a Vic 20 and want to know how to use the four function keys. I've tried the manual hut it’s very little help Richard Robertson,
London
A First of all. you can’t use the keys BBC-style during program development. Not un¬ less you use a Superexpander or do your own machine code routines. But you can use the keys in your own program.
The easiest way is w ith GET. Pressing any of the function keys in response to GET AS gives the following codes in AS: FI 133, F2 137. F3 134. F4 138. F5 135. F6 139, F7 136. F8 140.
Alternatively, you can use PEEK( 197) to read the current key pressed. This might be more useful in a games prog¬ ram. since you can test for a particular key being held down and thus program auto repeat-
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. IWO
ing lasers or whatever.
PEEK(197) returns 64 if no key is pressed. It can't recognise the shift key so you’ve only got four keys ... FI /2 returns 39, F3/4 returns 47, F4/5 returns 55 and F7/8 returns 63.
All this and more, in Com¬ modore’s Vic 20 Programmers Reference Guide.
My One’s so forgetful
A I'm developing a short game (70-80 lines) for my 48K One I . The problem is that after I’ve shot down a few aliens, the program grinds to a halt w ith an ‘out of memory ’ error. This happens with another of mv programs. Both are in HIRES mode.
I've tried forcing garbage collection with X = EREt ” " ) but it has no effect . Could you tell me what I'm doing wrong?
GN Clifford,
Wolverhampton, Staffs
Alt’s hard to say what's wrong without having a good look at your program. You should check that you really are not using memory up with the data and program. Although Microsoft Basic will take a large DIM statement, it won't always discover that it's not got room for it until you try and Till it.
Even so. you’ve got around 37K to play with. You’d need a lot of data to fill that. But Microsoft Basic doesn't always mean it’s out of user memory when it says ’out of memory’.
Some of the other situations that might generate the mes¬ sage are leaping out of FOR/ NEXT and GOSUB/RE- TURN constructs without finishing them properly or simply just demanding evalua¬ tion of a too complex formula.
Socheck that yourprogram is doing everything in an ‘official’ way. If you are having problems with a complex formula try simplifying it or breaking it up into stages.
Lacking in resolution.
QSo the Colour tonic has high resolution graphics does it? (PCN issue 15). Since when has 15,000 pixels qual¬ ified? One day, my BBC’s teletext graphics will gain this dubious honour.
Changing the subject, can we expect PCS to Pro-test the kenda DMES for the BBC? I
understand that this alternative j disk operating system does not use any of the BBC's RAM. Will it be possible to dump Aeornsoft programs to disk and expect them to run when re-loaded?
J M McGoughan,
Harrogate, North Yorks.
A 15,000 pixels? Sounds a lot to me. But you're right, 160 x 96 is a little conservative for ’high resolution’. The point is that Eaca calls the Colour Genie graphics high resolution so it’s a great help if all of us stick with the term. And just to keep your BBC ego intact. I’ve heard lots of people quite reasonably refer to 640x256 as medium resolution.
Let’s change the subject. Kenda's DMFS will allow you to move Aeornsoft programs onto disk. It doesn't use up any of the BBC’s RAM because it’s got its own. Of course, we’ll have a look at it as soon as we can get hold of a copy. Kenda says that it will be a couple of weeks before it’s ready.
Advice for a Vic victim
Q Can you help a Vk20owner suffering from poor docu¬ mentation? How do you find the position of the cursor? How do you get keys to auto-repeat? How do you imitate PRINTS without POKEing characters to the screen?
PS — W hy do you hate the Vic 20 micro?
Peter Antonioni,
London N22.
A From the top. you can read the cursor’s position with PEEK(214) for the row and POS(O) for the column. Auto¬ repeat is available by POKEing location 650. A value of 128 sets a repeat on all keys . . . other numbers give combinations of keys.
Simulating a PRINTS is a little harder. You can do it by calling a routine in the Vic’s kernel. The subroutine below moves the cursor to (X,Y) in this way:
1000 POKE 781 ,X: POKE 782.Y: POKE 783,PEEK(783) AND 254 1010 SYS 65520: RETURN.
Why do I hate the Vic 20 micro? Who me? I’m not that passionate about any micro but the examples above don't en¬ dear me to the machine. It’s also got a small screen and tiny memory. But we at PCN have nothing against it.
Micro Marketing Ltd.
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Unformatted capacity per drive 1 .6 Mbyte . £995
D0592 Two full height 80 track drives in case 14.5"w x 4.5"h x ird
Unformatted capacity per drive 1 Mbyte . C750
DOS Two half height five inch drives in case 1 0.5'w x 3.5" h x 9.5"d
Unformatted capacity per drive 500k bytes . £ 590
DD51 One half height five Inch drive in case specially for BBC micro 200k byte capacity - - £200
Qume Floppy Disc Drives
Full range of full and half height drives available.
Prices exclusive of VAT.
Carriage: 80 col printers CIO. 132 col printers £20 For further information contact
MicroMarketing Ltd.,
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Southam, Warwickshire. Telephone No. 092681 7333
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
[sprejEtriCrml
NEW RELEASES wlf
STAR JAMMER - Wiping ihe sweat from my hum. I ^ w W 'earthed the inky blackness. ahead (or signs «>( cncms ^ .
fighter' Through Star Jammer wa» the best 'hip in the galaxy . my dwindling energy reserves made me douht I could reach the next Margate (a ^ one-player space arcade game requiring one joystick)
SUPER SKILL HANGMAN Hangman as voti ve never played it before! A vocabulary of over 1.000 worth, three levels of difficulty and an optional timer make this classic word game a challenge for kids of all ages
MGHTKLIGHT — An accurate simulation of Oying a single engine light aircraft. Nightflight allows for take-off. landing and aerial manoeuvres including loops and rolls SALAMANDER GRAPHICS SYSTEM - A comprchcmivc picture drawing system tor thc home computer cnthusiaM Pictures in any mode or colour set. text on the hi res screens and storage of pictures on tape Requires one joystick
GRID RUNNER £7 95 EVEREST E7 95 FRANKLINS TOMB C9 95 ORIC TREK A version of our classic Dragon Trek for the Onc-I1 Ten levels of difficulty, three sues of galaxy and more features than you can shake a Klmgon at A must for all Oric owners!
ORIC GAMES COMPENDIUM — Four exciting games for Ihe whole family Donkey Derby. Kingdom. Viper and Space Station
RAGON 32 and TANDY 32K (please spncifyl BBC MODEL B
raqon Trek C9 95 Wizard War £7 95 Dragon Ride* £7 95 Tanks' C7 95 Games
olf £7.95 Grand Pnx £7 95 Vulcan Comp Bi £6 95 Games Comp B3 £6 95
oughts & Crosses £7 95 Games Comp EDG Graphics Itapel £24 95 EDG Graphics
1 £7 95 Salamander Graphics System jdisc) £29 95
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PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 198.1
PCN
SPECIAL
OFFER
from Quicksilva
£ASS £3.95
O QUEST
microsofjumre
FOHI6K
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THE
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SA VE MONEY on &
SPECTRUM
■ « A M p C Here's your chance to save £1 on one of five VI tv top Spectrum games from John Menzies.
ASTRO BLASTER
from Quicksilva
Vk9S £3.95
ROADRUNNER
3D DESERT PATROL
from Computer Rentals
£4^95" £3.95
Just cut out and keep the coupon below together with those in the last three issues. When you’ve collected all four take them to a branch of John Menzies with a computer department and claim your £1 off any one of the top five cassettes pictured here. That’s all you have to do! But remember, don’t delay. This offer closes on July 30, 1983.
from Quest
J&A9T £4.49
from Protek
£4.95
To get PCN every week, send off the subscription card in this week’s issue. Don’t miss this offer because your newsagent has sold out!
John Menzies
This PCN special offer it available only at John Men¬ zies stores with a computer department No part value will be accepted, and the coupons cannot be used for dbcount on other lines.
Offer dotes on July 30, 1983
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 10H3
READOUT
THE
COMPLETE
PROGRAMMER
A guide to better programming in BASIC
The Complete Programmer’ by Mfce James, pubfished by Granada at £5.95 (paperback 149 pages).
The debate about ‘my language is better than yours because it's a “structured" language and yours lacks any form of mod¬ ularity' will continue as long as there are computers and their various languages around .
One of the main criticisms aimed at Basic is that it lacks structure and does not allow for various data types to be used, and recursion is almost non¬ existent. The Complete Pro¬ grammer, billed as a guide to better programming in Basic.
aims to provide another view of Basic.
This book is intended for the majority of computer users who use Basic and wish to improve their programming techniques. It does not profess to teach programming, but introduces you to the concepts of defining data in a clear and easy-to-understand style, along with detailed chapters on sort¬ ing. searching, graphics, recur¬ sion. methods of programming and other such goodies.
Methods and methodology in Basic are well covered, with a lot of the examples having a Pascal feel about them. A good feature of this book is that the ideas expounded are indepen¬ dent of the different variants of Basic that are available.
Program listings arc included in some chapters to illustrate the point being made.
Chapter ten covers the in¬ gredients that make a good program from the user point of view, along with helpful sugges¬ tions about making programs more user-friendly. It also in¬ cludes a good section on hand¬ ling errors.
A lot of the ideas presented in this book can be applied to any language, and for those with no
knowledge in this area the book provides a comprehensive in¬ troduction. TJ
|
□ |
m |
|
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MICROCOMPUTER GRAPHICS |
‘Microcomputer Graphics Techniques and Applications’ by Donald Hearn and M Pauline Baker, published by Prentice-Hall at £16.10 (paperback 302
P****|.
Microcomputer Craphics Tech¬ niques and Applications aims to provide a comprehensive intro¬ duction to computer graphics with the emphasis firmly on micros.
The book is divided into five parts, covering the use of graphics in part one and pro¬ gressing to making simple pic¬ tures in part two. Part five looks
at the applications of graphics, with examples from the busi¬ ness sector and the education field, and there is material for games addicts.
The 14 chapters are divided into small sections in which a particular technique is ex¬ plained. with examples includ¬ ing a program listing, and screen shots. The book also includes a mass of schematic drawings and equations.
The well-illustrated text embodies a lot of good ideas and algorithms and these are usually supplied with a pro¬ gram. some of which are quite lengthy.
There are well over 90 pro¬ grams. presenting such tech¬ niques as labelling graphs, removing hidden lines from drawings, drawing pie-charts, shading diagrams, plotting data trends, drawing three- dimensional shapes, scaling pictures, and animation.
If what you want is not covered you will probably be able to axle it yourself after reading and trying out exam¬ ples given in the book; some chapters have exercises which usually entail developing a piece of code to produce graphics. TJ
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LEASING PART If
Individual credit cards are used mostly toget smaller pieces of software, periherals or small ‘pocket’ micros such as the ZX81 and Spectrum. The purchase of serious microcomputer business systems is unlike¬ ly to be considered with a credit card unless it's a company card or an American Express card. The American Express card, however, is not strictly a credit card it requires immediate complete repayment of you bill.
Special offers
There are also occasional special offers in which shops sell their goods for delayed cash and minimal interest payments, but these often run when the computer is becomingobsolete and the manufacturer is planning to end production of it.
The alternative to these sales is hire purchase.
The details of hire purchase will be dealt with in detail in Part 2 of this feature next week, but generally the common varieties of financing hire purchase require a deposit of up to 20 per cent, with the remainder of the cost apportioned over two, three, four or five years with the relevant amounts of interest. It depends on the exact terms of the agreements as to whether the interest rate is fixed at the time of purchase or
whether it is linked, say, to the Bank base rate.
An indirect financing option is the bank loan. Leaflets put out by the banks emphasise the benefit of using a bank loan in order to give you the cash to go out and make the best deal you can at the computer shop of your choice.
But make sure that the cheaper price doesn't mean cheaper back-up service. You also have to be certain of the machine you want to buy when you apply for the loan.
Banks and finance houses vary greatly in the details of their terms and conditions. Generally they require repayment over two or three years, with occasional excep¬ tions for odd periods.
Repayments are usually made monthly — and you often have to supply 20 per cent or more of the purchase price as a down-payment.
NEXT WEEK: A closer look at bank loans, hire purchase agreements, finance leases, tax allowances for computers and other little details to make your purchasing power stretch that little bit further.
In the first of two articles on buying a micro. John King considers HP sources.
Hire forms of life?
The computer is fast approaching the car as one of the most sought-after ‘big’ consumer goods — so it should come as no surprise that more and more leasing and alternative buying options are being developed to make expensive machines more affordable.
While it needn't be said that you want to get the most for your money, average computer buyers are often unaware of the options. But it's essential that those options are explored if you’re to get the most for your money.
But finding independent, professional and cheap advice can be a problem. Even the most well-meaning of computer store sales staff have the goal of removing the shekels from your pocket and their advice will inevitably be biased.
Buying impulse
Many people dutifully wander into their local computer shop and rely on the sales staff as their sole source of advice — and then look at only one computer system, despite the fact that they may be paying for a computer in the same way they pay for their car.
It seems that the marketing axioms of ‘impulse buying is not restricted to super¬ markets' and ‘buyers are most influenced by the advertisment they last saw or the person they talked to most recently about the purchase' still apply.
It would probably be hard to prove the rationality of such a purchase in terms of cost , efficiency, value for money and need. Some people buy certain makes of cars just because they like the colour.
But if you're buying equipment to the tune of £3.000 — more than a quarter of most people's annual income — it’s essential to look at a variety of machines with their relevant software and consider the best way to finance the purchase.
Among the most common methods of purchase are cash, credit-card with im¬ mediate repayment, credit-card with grad¬ ual repayment and hire purchase in a variety of forms.
A small company or partnership can also try more complicated methods, including leasing purchase, leasing secondary hire, sale and leaseback — as well as secured loans. These all give you capital allowance claims and the opportunity for VAT reclamation.
Obviously, the first two methods (cash or credit card with immediate repayment) require large amounts of available loot. There is a slight advantage in using the credit card because you often have up to six weeks interest-free before you have to pay the invoice.
But most people have neither the type of credit card nor the credit limit necessary to buy more than a small part of a system.
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1VK3
Buy MicroPro
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USE YOUR APPLE FOR STAR-GAZING.
Software that means business
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(available on cassette only Prices include VAT and post and packing)
ORIC FORTH language Requires 4 8k machine Price £1590
ORIC BASE lor the maintenance of personal and small business information Requires 48k machine Price £15.40
ZODIAC adventure game Requires 48k machine Price £1030
ORIC CHESS Requres 48k machine Price £10.39
.^*4 ORICMON A complete machine code monitor Either 1 6k 4v or 48k machines Price £15 90
HOUSE OF DEATH game Requires 48k machine ^ Price £1039
MULTI GAMES PACK 2 Requres 48k machine ^ Price £7 .30
^ ORIC MUNCH game Requres 48k machine Pnce £8 35
One Products are pleased to announce the release of the four-colour pnnter
The Pnnter uses standard 4j mch paper and is switchable between 40 and 80 characters per line The writing mechanism is a clever arrangement of tour miniature ball-point pens (red. green, blue and black inks ) There are 1 5 programmable character sues and four different drawing angles
The pen plotting facility allows the drawing of complex diagrams and ptotures
The pnce ncludes an integral power supply and pnnter lead
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ATARI SCREEN ACTION
With the GT1A chip, says Les Howarth. v ou II put i hit of character into your home-brew games.
Scoring on your Atari
The Atari 800's GTIA modes are good for drawing patterns or colourful scenes. But with all those extra colours available it's very tempting to create a game in one of the modes. The problem is that it's difficult — you can't print characters to the screen, so you can’t display scores and messages. Or can you?
It is possible, and it’s surprisingly easy. Not only can you print characters in many colours, but the characters themselves can be multicoloured. You can also use the same method in other modes, although the number of colours available will be reduced.
The most obvious solution to the problem would be to take a character direct from the character set and POKE it onto the screen. But unfortunately, it's not that simple — when you try this it will only result in a few meaningless plotted points.
Each character occupies eight consecu¬ tive bytes within the memory, and so by PEEKing at each bvtc then POKEing them to the screen, you should end up with your chosen character, right?
Well nearly. This method does work in modes 4. b and 8. but not in multicolour modes 9. 10 and II. Example 1 (below) shows how you POKE the letter A to a
graphics 4 screen. The character set starts at memory address 57344. and page 55 of the Atari manual shows the order in which characters are stored in memory.
The letter A is character 33, and the following calculation locates the starting address required:
57344 + 33*8 = 57608 So the first byte of the letter A can be POKEd to the screen from address 57608. The next seven bytes are then POKEd immediately below this screen position for each byte.
In each program replace the £ sign with a # .
Example 1
To use this example in graphics 6. alter line 50 to W = W + 2<). Unfortunately this idea doesn't work in the 4 colour or GTIA modes. A different method has to be found.
Graphics 10 allows nine colours to be displayed at the same time, these being
controlled by addresses 704 to 712. Address 704 is the background colour and is also COLOR 0. so a plot of COLOR 0 would be invisible. These colours can be set by POKEing a value between 0 and 255 into the above registers. To calculate the numbers to be POKEd. look up the table
1C* GRAPHICS 4
20 DL-PEEk (88) +256*PEEK (89) t REM 41011 start of acraen memory 30 W=4: FOR I#57608 TO 57615* REM loop through 8 bytes 40 POKE DL+w"pEEK ( I ) s REM poke byte to screen 50 W=W+ 10* NEXT I
99 STOP :REM start of example 2
100 DATA 010,101,111,101,101 1 10 DIM B«<3)
120 GRAPHICS 10* POKE 704,B*POKE 705,52 130 FOR 1-1 TO 5* READ B*
140 POSITION 4,10«-I*? £6SB*
150 NEXT I
160 GOTO 160
2O0 DATA 010,101,111,101,101 1
on page 50 of the Atari reference manual and multiply the number of the chosen colour by 16. Then add the luminance value, ie COLOR I is to be set to GREEN with a luminance of 4. GREEN = 12 so 12*16+4 = 192. POKE 705.192.
Although we normally plot and draw to in graphics modes, it is also possible to use the print #6 command, although in this case text will not appear — only a few plotted points are displayed.
But try printing a series of ones and noughts and you will find that each number one will appear as a plot of COLOR 1 and each nought will be a plot of the background and therefore unseen. If you then think of these numbers as being a byte of binary code then it is possible to plot a character using a number of hand made bytes. The bytes in example 2 have been shrunk to 3 bits in order to display the character in a better shape.
27^
25
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ATARI SCREEN ACTION
Example 2 characterduetothcelongatedplots. Using
You could, of course, use 8 bits per byte as just threc-bits-width gives a more standard in normal character structure, but in shape.
graphics 10 this would result in a very wide ■ Line 20 sets two of the colour registers.
10 DIM B*<20)
20 GRAPHICS 10s POKE 704, 8: POKE 705, 52: POKE 706,196 30 FOR 1=1 TO 5; READ h%
40 POSITION 4,1 0+ Is? £6?B*:NEXT I 50 W= 1
60 FOR 1 = 1 TO 5 s READ B*
70 POSITION 27, 10+ 1 s ? £6?B*:NEXT I 80 W=W+ 1 1 IF W > 4 THEN W=1:REST0RE 150 90 FOR 1=1 TO 100: NEXT I s GOTO 60 95 GOTO 95
100 DATA 11101110111011101110 110 DATA 1OO01OOOIO1O1O1O1OOO 120 DATA 11101000101011001110 130 DATA 00101000101010101000 140 DATA 11101110111010101110 150 DATA 020,220,020,020,222 160 DATA 222,002,222,200,222 170 DATA 222,002,222,002,222
180 DATA 202,202,222,002,002 2
1« DIM B* (32)
20 GRAPHICS lOlFOR 1-704 TO 712tREAD Ml POLE I.MlNEXT I 20 DATA 8,52,196,220,130,14,92,24,0 30 FOR 1-1 TO 5l READ B4 40 POSITION 4, 10*1 1 7 £6(B*|N£XT 4
42 A— 1 « FOR 1-0 TO ISlFCJR W-84 TO lw I COLOR 1 1 PLOT I , M*A| ORAMT O 79-1 ,M-A| A-A*«. 2l NEXT Ml NEXT IlM-40
43 RESTORE 300iREAD DEPOSITION 12,M-li? £61 B*l RESTORE SOOlFOR 1-1 TO SiREAD B*i POSITION 12,M*I(? £61 B9i NEXT 1
44 POSITION 12,M*I*ll? £61 B*
45 COLOR 2l PLOT 36, 120i DRAMTO 36, 1 50 l PLOT 35, 123lPL0T 35, 150l DRAUTO 37,150
46 PLOT 39, 1201 DRAMTO 4 1 , 120i DRAMTO 41 , 1301 DRAMTO 39, 1501 DRAMTO 39,120
59 RESTORE ISOiM-l
60 FOR I- 1 TO 5t READ B«
70 POSITION 27,10*11? £6|B«iNEXT 1 80 M— M* 1 i I F M 4 THEN M-l I RESTORE ISO 90 FOR 1-1 TO 2001 NEXT 1 1 SOTO 60 10O DATA IllOlllOtllOlllOlllO 110 DATA 10001000101010101000 120 DATA 1U01000101011001110 130 DATA 00101000101010101000 140 DATA llioilioiltoieioilie ISO DATA 010,110,010,010,111 160 DATA 222,002,222,200.222 170 DATA 333,003,333,003,333 ISO DATA 404,404,444,004,004 300 DATA 8889888000008880808088808680888 310 DATA 800\<eoe0e0B0B08980B00B00B00080o 320 DATA 801 330 DATA e 340 DATA f
10 DIM BS (32)
20 GRAPHICS 10: POKE 704,8:P0KE 705,52:P0KE 706,196 30 FOR 1=1 TO 5: READ B*
40 POSITION 4,10+1:7 £6?B*:NEXT I 50 W=1
60 FOR 1=1 TO 5: READ B*
70 POSITION 27,10+1:7 £6;B*:NEXT I 80 W=W+1 : IF W>4 THEN W=l: RESTORE 150 85 GOTO 60
90 FOR 1=1 TO 200: NEXT I : GOTO 60 100 DATA 11101110111011101110 110 DATA 10O01000101010101000 120 DATA 11101000101011001110 130 DATA 00101000101010101000 140 DATA 11101110111010101110 150 DATA 010,110,010,010,111 I60 data 222,002, 222, 2Mf 222 170 DATA 333,003,333,003,333
180 DATA 404,404,444,004,004 4
The background to grey and COLOR 1 to red.
■ Line 30 reads each byte of the character shape.
■ Line 40 calculates the position to print each line of data.
It is important to make sure each line is printed directly under the previous line as the invisible cursor will not do this atuomatically in this mode.
Changing the colour of a character is absolute simplicity. Just change the digits in the data . ie change all the ones to twos for COLOR 2. You will also have to POKE a colour into register 706 to set COLOR 2. Try POKE 706. 192 and re-run the amended program.
All this leads to a multi-coloured character simply by mixing ones and twos in the data, although it is preferable to keep one particular value per line. This idea also makes it possible to display characters of various sizes at the same time — even striped letters are possible. Example 3 gives an amazing display of a two-colour and striped character.
Example 3
And now for the ultimate — whole words printed in one go. Printing one letter at a time to write a word would be rather a slow job, not to mention involving a lengthy program. You would have to re-calculate the position to print each character. However, there is no reason why this idea can't be extended to print a complete word in one loop.
The best way to work out the data required for a word is to draw a grid five lines deep. The number of columns will be four times the number of letters in the word.
Fill the grid with ones in the shape of each letter.
Every fourth column is Filled with zeroes to act as a divider between each letter. Each row of the grid is then put into a data statement. Example 4 will demonstrate whole-word printing and show the speed at which this idea can operate In fact . it is so fast that you will need a delay loop to show the digits clearly. After running this program remove line 85 to bring in the delay routine.
Example 4
The best way to update scores is to keep the data for each digit on a separate line. Atari Basic allows the user to RESTORE to any chosen line of data, so if your score was 3, then an instruction could be given as: RESTORE 140 + SCORE* 10
This would set the data pointer to line 170, ready to print a number three. Now add or change the following lines to the previous example for a text and graphics program.
This article marks the second appearance of the Atari GTIA chip in the pages of PCM. It was first featured in the April 29 issue in an article covering use of the chip to set colour/ luminance levels and control sprite graphics and high-resolution colour modes.
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. I«W3
For those that do,
The do’s and don’ts of the new CGL M5 home computer reveal why it is such a remarkable family computer. Unrivalled in its range
For those family members that do revel in creating their own personal computer programmes the M5 will test all their abilities And teach them many more.
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It also incorporates a mini-synthesiser.
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Signposting CP/M
For (hose of you who are confused by (he CP/M operating sys(em. (here are programs available now (ha( will I make the CP/M environment appear a lot friendlier than it really is.
The Organizer from The Information People is a program that claims to help untrained computer users (secretaries, accountants and so on) to use a CP/M- based micro and software without worry.
The way this is achieved is really quite simple. The Organizer is set up to display neat menus instead of the awkward directories CP/M offers. You then enter your selection (by number), and the program or data file of your choice is loaded into memory and run.
So the Organizer effectively functions as a menu generator, job control processor and a CPM operator interface.
The Organizer will operate on most CP/M or MPM micros, and for the purpose of this review I tested it on a VectorSystems 3 micro. The only constraint on using The Organizer is that you must have at least 4tiK user available RAM.
Features
The Organizer comes with a standard •front end' menu which allows you to access sub-menus or run applications directly. This menu can be altered to suit your own particular needs, and again . you can create sub-menus. In addition:
• You can set up the Organizer's menus with most text editors.
# Menus can be structured so that when an operator asks for a program that is not on the systems disk, the Organizer will request a disk change.
• 1 1 e I p files can be created — the standard menu has many.
# Command streams may be set up within a menu, so that a string of different functions can be carried out.
As mentioned previously, you can set up menus to suit yourself. This can be done by copying the existing menu. MAIN MENU.MNU and modifying it, or by creating your own main menu from scratch. The manual recommends you to take the first option as the main menu contains many useful file descriptions, and all you have to do is attach the appropriate file to the description.
The Organizer is quite comprehensive and there are many features in the package. However, there is a distinct shortage of error detection routines. For a program that is meant to keep the user away from the CP/M environment and its crypticerrorhandling. the Organizercould do better.
Presentation
The Organizer disk, operator's manual, agreement and registration form come in a transparent plastic cover. It would be quite
easy to bend the package accidentally, and thus damage the disk.
Unfortunately, for the inexperienced operator, the operating manual is not much good at all. If you are not frightened of CP/M yet. then reading the first part of the manual will put you off for life.
In general, the documentation is not aimed at the 'inexperienced operator' as the manual claims. I found it hard reading, and I have been using CP/M packages and associated documentation for the past four years. For those who buy this package. I would recommend two to three thorough readings of the manual before using the package.
The really useful information in the manual was scattered about in various places, not organised into logical sections as you would expect . The examples shown . however, were clear enough, and the manual gives good advice on how to organise your disks.
Getting started
The operating manual itself contains a section on getting started', and it really is quite comprehensive.
When used for the first time, a program called GENORG must be run. This will display the names of 20 commonly used terminals, one of which will probably be yours. You will need to configure the Organizer to your particular terminal, so if
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. IWI3
Dragon
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HX80 Portable
CBN Cassette Commodore 64
400 16* Inc BASIC 400 40 K lac BASIC 800 48Klnc BASK 410 Cassette Deck 810Dtsk Drive 850 AS 838 Interface
41SS Ml 5 £849 £47 £879
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1541 Disk Drive
your terminal is not on the list . then a mode can be entered in which you enter some control codes associated with your termin¬ al. This process is not too difficult, and if you get it wrong, the program can be re-run and there will be no damage done.
In use
The screen layouts and menu structure depend on how good you are at designing them. The manual and the main menu supplied show how to structure the menus and sub-menus. The main menu on the package looks good and is structured very well, and I left it as it was and attached sub-menus to it. All you have to do to get a program or file running is to enter the number to the left of the description, eg
1. LANGUAGES (leads on to sub-menu).
So. if you enter I . a sub-menu would be called. I structured mv sub-menu like this:
1. CIS COBOL . . (submenu).
2. F80 . FORTRAN Ml.
3. MB ASICS . (sub-menu).
4. PASCAL . MT+ .
If you now enter '2'. the Organizer will
immediately invoke the Fortran compiler. Flowever. if you enter T. further sub¬ menus would be displayed, eg
1. SC . Scope Text Editor.
2. COMP . COBOLCompiler
3. F2 . FORMS 1 1 utility
To actually get the Organizer to run a
program, a 'stream' of information follows the program description:
l.SC . Scope Text Editor. :SC(( Enter
file name));
Each time you enter option 1. the prompt. 'Enter file name' is displayed. You enter your choice and the text editor SC (Scope) goes into action.
It is also possible to attach help menus to the end of menus, so instead of entering a choice such as * 1\ you could enter *?1\ and if there is a help file present, it will be displayed.
I should point out that all the above examples were created by myself. You will have to do the same if you purchase the package. Or else you can ‘tag’ your own files on to the existing main menu.
The whole package is quite flexible when you've got used to it. Some pretty comprehensive command streams can be set up. asking for user input, allowing disk exchanges, initialising help files, etc.
Once you have become used to the system, you can skip past menus and go directly to the final menu. You can adjust the package easily to suit different skill levels.
Depending on the speed of your micro, the response time will vary between selection and execution. On the Vector, response time was quite acceptable, but I was using Sin disks, rather than S'/tin. The Organizer looks after file handling very well . and will cope with tedious jobs such as deleting *.BAK files.
Reliability
If you enter invalid commands in the command stream, the Organizer normally tells vou so when it tries to execute the
command stream. But this does not always happen. On some occasions, when 1 gave it bad file names, the Organizer crashed into the C’P/M operating system. When this happened. I had to re-enter it manually, after which the Organizer carried on from where it left off. On the whole . there could have been more error trapping, and I hope The Information People will rectify this in future versions.
If you have a micro in a busy office environment where operators unfamiliar with CP/M will use it. the Organizer could come in handy. It will be useful if there is someone in the office with some idea of how to set up menus and how to run the machine, as setting up the package to suit your own particular needs can be difficult .
But once this is done, it should prove to be a handy utility for your system.
wting ....
Features KlftlKin
Documentation nn
Performance nnn
Usability nnnn
Reliability O f!
Overall value nn
Name The Organizer Opplcatlea Menu driven CP M System ( T/M or MPM (48K RAM minimum) Price S 14V Publisher The Information People, 443 Hudson Avenue. Newark. OH 43055 USA Fermat Kin SS-DD disk Language Machine code (Mate mail order
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PUN JUNE 30-JUI
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PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6, 1983
S SOFTWARES
A stethoscope on your programs, and a teletext display facility. Ted Ball peers at two packages.
Spectrum tracer . . .
When you are debugging a Basic program it can be difficult to find out what the program is actually doing instead of what you meant it to do. Trace for the ZX Spectrum helps your debugging by displaying each statement in the program as it is executed, allowing you to follow the progress of the program step by step.
Features
To .start Trace you have to give the instruction RANDOMISE USR 3 1840 on a 16K Spectrum, or RANDOMISE USR 64608 on a 48K Spectrum. This can be in immediate mode or in the program, and you can use a similar USR call w ithin your program to turn off the trace, so you can trace the whole program or just part of it.
In use
When a program is being traced each statement is displayed in the lower part of the screen, together with the line number and the statement number within the line, before it is executed. When you press the Caps shift key the statement is executed and the next statement displayed. You can use the Symbol shift instead of Caps shift to
get the statement listed on the printer as well as on the screen. The top 22 lines of the screen are left for use by the Basic program, so the screen display works in the normal way while a program is being traced.
Trace allows almost all Basic commands to work as usual, including INPUT. INKEYS and USR. although there are some points noted in the instructions about the use of INKEYS and USR in a pro¬ gram that is to be traced.
The Basic commands that do not work in the usual way are GOTO. GOSUB and NEXT. As described in the instructions. Trace will stop with an error report if it comes across a GOTO or GOSUB that points to itself, for example 10GOTO lOor 20 GOSUB 20. However, this type of GOTO is often used in the form:
10 IF INKEYS = " " THEN GOTO 10 where the program is waiting until a key is pressed. The problem with NEXT is not mentioned in the instructions, but is probably related to the restriction on GOTO and GOSUB.
If you have a line of the form:
100 FOR a = 1 TO 10: IF x>y THEN
NEXT a
w ith FOR and NEXT on the same line and IF. . . THEN infrontof NEXT. Trace will stop with an error report instead of executing the NEXT. Curiously , T race will quite happilv execute the NEXT if it is not preceded by IF . . . THEN.
Verdict
Apart from the problems with GOTO. GOSUB and NEXT. Trace works very well, and I couldn't find anything else that would crash it. or make it miss a program error.
There are a number of toolkit programs available that include a trace as well as other programming aids, although usually the trace in a toolkit will display only the line number. You should consider whether getting the Basic statements displayed by Trace is a sufficient extra feature to justify your buying this program.
RATING
Features
. . . and text placer
ZXTcxt is a program for the ZX Spectrum which allows you to set up displays that mimic the teletext broad¬ cast news and information services — Ceefax on the BBC and Oracle on ITV.
The cassette received for review had a hand-written label, but was marked ‘Test copy only'. The instructions consisted of seven pages photocopied from a typed original. They cover all the features of the program and how to use them, but a lot of space is taken up explaining how to use colour and graphics on the Spectrum, and you'd need to know this beforehand if you are going to use ZXText successfully.
Features
Teletext isorganised into numbered pages, each page filling the TV screen. With ZXTcxt. to set up a page you have to write and type in the program lines needed to produce the page . This allows you to use all the Spectrum's colour and graphics fea¬ tures in the display, but you are limited to what you can get into nine multi-statement program lines.
In use
The top line of each page includes the page number, the day and date, and the time in hours, minutes and seconds. The day . date and time have to be entered every time you
run ZXText. The day and date are not updated by the program, but the time is advanced while ZXText is running.
The clock is about as accurate as you can expect from the Spectrum — comparing it with a digital watch guaranteed accurate to within six seconds a month I found that the ZXText clock gained four seconds in one hour.
There is an alarm clock facility in the program. This uses the Spectrum's built-in beeper, but when it sounds the only way to stop it is to use the Break key to stop the program.
When ZXText is running you can display any page on the screen by typing in the page number. You can also set it up to cycle through a selection of pages . but to do this you have to alter the program.
Once you have your pages set up you can save them on tape using one of the pages provided. However, once you have called up the save page there is no way to get out of it without actually saving the program or using the Break key. When you have saved your pages the program waits for you to verify the tape, but there is nothing on the screen to tell you to verify.
When you’ve done this the program automatically runs again from the begin¬ ning. so you have to type in the date and time again.
Verdict
ZXText is rather difficult to use and includes very few error checking and user-friendly features. Invalid dates result either in garbage being displayed in the date field or the program crashing with an error message.
Since you have to write the program code to produce the displays you want . you might just as well do the whole thing yourself and write the small amount of extra code needed to call up pages.
RATING
Performance
Usability
3
Name Trace At
ig aid
ZX Spectrum. 16K or 48K Price 16.95 Tcxgate Computers, 14 Brook Lane. Cortc Mullen. Dorset BH2I 3RD Fermat Cassette Language Machine code Outlets Mail order.
Name ZXTcxt Awbcetion Simulated Teletext display System ZX Spectrum. 16K or 48K Price £4.95 PubWstrer lain Stewart. 17 Torry Drive. Alva. Scotland FK12 5NQ Formal Cassette
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PCN JUNE 30-JULY ft. IWO
PCN PRO TEST
PERIPHERALS
Daisywheel prices cut? Barry Miles sees how Japan’s new entry, the Juki has pruned them.
The Juki 6100 is a low-cost daisywheel printer from Japan. It uses Triumph Adler daisywheels. IBM ribbons, and Diablo 630 software — the sincerest form of flattery is imitation.
It is clearly designed to bring daisywheel print quality into the hands of the sort of user who. for reasons of cost, could previously think only in terms of dot matrix. It's a major breakthrough at £399, and the Japanese have chosen the UK as the first country in which to set up a dealership.
Clearly they take their responsibilities very seriously. Juki sent two engineers from Tokyo to photograph the entire first consignment, and meticulously checked every single printer after it had arrived in this country. I spoke to one of the engineers, who told me that this involved 100 printers.
Juki employs 10,000 people in Japan, and has been making computer peripherals and typewriters for 45 years. In addition to making its own-brand machines, the company manufactures the Olivetti Praxis.
Getting started
The machine comes well protected, with lots of internal packing to be removed. There is even an unpacking schedule provided, although it's a little ambiguous because the translation from Japanese is less than perfect.
The machine is housed in a fairly tough off-white plastic case, and the control panel is easy to read. It has touch-sensitive switches in orange , mauve and blue . These control reset, pause, and Form feed.
The reset switch is used to release the printer from a check or error status. The pause button takes the printer off-line temporarily, until the reset switch is set. In addition, a sliding switch controls pitch. This may be 10, 12. 15. or proportional spacing. Youmayvarythisinsoftwarc.not hardware, once the printer has been switched on.
Lights indicate 'power on’, 'ready' and ‘check’ respectively. This is a little uncon¬ ventional, but reference to the comprehen¬ sive manual tells you exactly what these mean. The 'ready' light will blink if errors relating to data transfer occur. The manual disconcertingly suggests that in addition to parity errors, or buffer overflow errors.
Print at a low
‘Flamming errors' may cause problems. Well, yes, I imagine they would!
The ‘check’ light comes on to warn you that ribbon or paper has run out: if it blinks at you. this is to indicate an error status. When you have cleared the error, you can print the contents of the 2K buffer, by pressing reset. The 2K buffer comes as standard. Strangely enough, space has been left on the printed circuit board for three more RAM chips to be soldered in — the holes arc there , but no sockets! Ship for a hap'orth of tar, I feel.
The lid lifts up and off to gain access to the daisywheel, which drops into place, and is secured by the use of a single lever. The IBM-type ribbon is relatively easy to insert, although it is a slightly mucky task. The ribbon is very wide, and sure enough, when printing starts, you find that it uses the top, middle and bottom, of the ribbon in turn. Commendable economy, particu¬ larly as the ribbons are very cheap.
With the lid off you notice that there is a lot of sound-proofing foam stuck around and you begin to wonder why. The manual boasts of an induction motor, and says this gives a simpler mechanism, and a more accurate printing position. I thought simplicity would give greater quietness, but now I am not so sure.
The manual, in a rather confusing way, describes the use of the hail lever to wind the paper round the fifth line. It does not deliver the paper into precisely the right alignment every time, and only has the aid of a single plastic paper guide, and two rubber rollers on the platen. And there's another snag — it won't work with the top on the printer! As is usually the case, the lever concerned protrudes through a slot on the top of the printer’s case. But the Juki's slot isn’t long enough. The trouble appears to be that the lever, being plastic, slender and long, bends so much that it cannot complete its travel before hitting the end stop, there doesn't seem to be any easy way of adjusting it either.
I can only hope that the sample I had
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A Mtvctlon o< tfc* typef»c*» available on th« Juki 6100. You can alto wt up boW and shadow printing, n well automatic underlining. A nMe rang* ot dattywWh la avaHaMe for tfca printer.
wasn’t typical. But on the other hand, what did those engineers do if they didn’t find this fault?
This was particularly disappointing, as much of the design has been thought out with considerable care. There is a 10. 12, and 15 pitch calibration on the transparent lid of the machine. But just a moment — there is something a little strange here: the maximum number of columns is only 1 10 if you are using 10 pitch. Reference the manual confirms my fears: the maximum paper width is only 13in.
On the face of it, this doesn't matter much — after all. who needs great widths? Many people won t find this a problem. But the daily proliferation of spreadsheets means that more and more people are going to be wanting to print out columns of figures The Triumph Adler range of print wheels includes some very attractive 15 pitch versions, and I’d rather have a maximum of 198 columns than 165. which is all that the Juki can offer.
Ten dip switches are available. They’re reasonably accessible by raising the clip-on part of the top of the body. These control automatic linefeed when carriage return is sent; impression level, for when you are using multistrike ribbons; selection of international character set; form length; 1 lin or 12in line spacing. 6 per inch or 8 per inch, and continuous or cut paper — giving a pause to change sheet (pressing the reset switch sets printing going again).
Self-testing of the machine is more complete than in some cases. The buffer is checked first, and then, if you have the serial interface option fitted, that is checked next. Finally the character set is printed out
Up and running
There were no particular problems in running the printer, although I did experi¬ ence difficulty in using it with the word processors I have. I couldn't get to the bottom of this, but it appears that the handshaking may be somewhat out of the ordinary in its reaction with my hardware.
Certainly, the print quality is superb, and the wide range of daisywheels avail¬ able gives a good choice to the customer. Unfortunately the changing of daisywheels proved troublesome in the extreme. The manual was no great help either. The problem is that the carrier bolt, which locates into the slot in the daisywheel in order that the motor can drive it round, proved extremely unwilling to engage.
This was aggravated by the fact that the bolt doesn't always stop at the same point, even on reset. You would normally expect the bolt tostopat top dead centre, but it did not. This would matter to you only if you change daisywheels frequently, and I suspect that most users will buy only one.
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6, 1983
This pi* chart represent* a rough guide to what we feeds the trade-off between price and capabilities on the Juki 6100, as determined by the PCN Peripheral Pro-Test It’s based on the premise that a high capability in one direction will cause either a low capability in another or a higher price. For this reason ‘economy’ is a negative way of
K a printer has lots of everything H will close the price/ performance gap — obviously a wide gap doesn't represent a good buy, 30 degree is good and none is excellent.
price
or if they buy more, will not bother to change them often.
Features
The number of control codes available is outstanding, and the description in the manual is quite adequate for you to be able to get full value out of them. The introduction runs like this: ‘The control codes come in special control codes based on escape codes and those control codes shown in ASCII table.'
But once you’re past that you can make progress. You can backspace by one column, or l/60in in graphics mode Horizontal and vertical tabulation are both possible, as are upwards line feeds, and half line feeds in both directions for subscripts and superscripts. The left and right margins may be set . as can the top and bottom. The printer may be completely reset from software. The extra symbols on the daisywheels may be accessed by escape sequences. Automatic backward print may be set and reset at will, and you can reset after a remote error.
Word-processing functions are numer¬ ous. You can set up bold or shadow printing, and also set an automatic under¬ line. You can also switch proportional spacing on and off from software.
It is possible to slow down the printer with an escape sequence which allows more time for the carriage to settle before printing. This is no doubt to enhance precision, though there seems to be little need for it.
You can define the line feed in multiples of l/48in, and you can decide the character spacing in l/120th increments. This en¬ ables graphics to be printed and lets you dosc-up letters if you are trying to cram them in . You can turn off the bi-directional printing if you wish. The manual specifies how to send these commands, but it falls
TIm Juki 6100 Is a major advance for daisywheel printers, bringing high-cost (acuities down to the level where daisywheel can become a real competitor to dot matrix. It is versatile, with a wide range of functions, but although Juki places much emphasis on quality-control, there are a few rough edges.
short of giving examples in one of the dialects of Basic.
One thing Juki has been able to do away with is the fan for cooling. This is attractive . because often you print intermittently . and silence in between is good. The printing itself is pretty quiet, but the reason for all the foam is fairly obvious: there is a
continuous high pitched whine all the time the printer is printing. This is fairly distracting, and quite unpleasant, although I think most users could leant to live with it.
The speed of printing is as close to the rated 17 cps as are other printers to their rated speeds. If the paper loading lever worked, the print speed would be less important, of course.
Verdict
This is a very interesting entry into the market, and is rather like the Japanese entry into the car market — lots of facilities for your money, but a few design deficien¬ cies into the bargain . There is no doubt that the Juki competes extremely well on price/performance ratio.
The machine has a range of facilities that would do justice to a much more expensive machine. There arerflaws in it. but not sufficient to put off the budget-conscious consumer. I’m told Juki policy is to produce a new model each year. After this promising debut . the next one will be worth looking out for.
Km* Juk. 6100 daisywheel printer Meseferter.r
Juki Price £399 plus VA’l Interface Centronics Parallel Caetact VI icroperipheralt 0256 54057
PCN JUNE XkJULY 6. I9K3
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System Unit
16-bit. 8088 microprocessor 64K byte RAM. expandable to 256K bytes 4K byte graphics display memory 5 -slot expansion bos
Keyboard
Specialty designed low profile Popular typewriter layout 97 keys, including 12 function keys Separate numeric keypad and cursor control
—SPECIFICATIONS—
Display Units
12- inch monochrome (green phosphor) or
13- inch full -colour. 25 lines x 80 columns High resolution. 720 x 300 pixels
Mass Storage
Built in 320K byte diskette standard Additional internal storage of 320K byte diskette, or 5 or 10 Mbyte Winchester disks optional
Operating Systems
MS" OOS. Digital Reseaich" CP/M 86 • and Concurrent CP/M 86!" UCSD p System"
Applications Software
Over 100 programs available from the most popular software vendors such as Microsoft. AshtonTate. Micro-Pro. IUS. Sorcim. MPSL. Lifeboat and others
150cps TI 850 Series for most applications
Communications Options
TTY. 3780
3270 SNA stand-alone 3270 BSC and SNA cluster
FOOTNOTES MS-OOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation CP/M-86 and Concurrent CP/M -06 are trademarks ol Ogital Research Inc UCSO p-system is a trademark of the Regents of the University of California
PCN PRO TEST
ideo displav^^Richard King testing
PERIPHERALS
n board set new
ill the UltraTerm
Probably the Videx Videoterm. which is the only one which has been widely copied . cloned and emulated, and which is recog¬ nised by almost all software companies as a regular option.
Videx's new product not only provides an 'ordinary’ 80 x 24 display, but displays of 80 x 32.80 x 48.% x 24, 128 x 32. 132 x 24 and an incredible 160 x 24! Asifsomany formats were not enough, it also provides inverse and normal . as well as highlight and lowlight, two character fonts and special graphic symbols.
Presentation
Just once in a while a peripheral for Apple-bus computers comes along which is so advanced that even sea¬ soned Applemaniacs just stop and stare.
The Videx UltraTerm is such a device. Essentially it’s an improved video display card, but the extent of the improvements is such that it’s a whole new ball-game.
There have been many ‘80-column’ cards made for the Apple . some better than others, but overall the most popular is
The UltraTerm comes wrapped in deep , foam with a manual and demonstration [ disk . all in slip-over cover with an attractive design. It catches the eye and. although providing sufficient protection for the PCB. it would need extra wrapping for posting, otherwise the book will suffer.
Documentation
As is usual with all Videx products, the documentation is immaculate, and an example to everybody else. Videx is a company which believes that its products i will be most useful if they are 'open', ie that II necessary information is not only ailable but is put in the hands of the r.
lis attitude contrasts sharply with that lany other companies who don 't do this I, out of either narrow-minded protec- ar bone-idleness, offer products h are less useful, though potentially no ^kss capable.
JW The book has a short table of contents. f followed by an expanded table of contents . which is broken up into sections, with the essential installation, troubleshooting, be¬ ginner’s guide, and operation sections at the beginning, where they belong.
Following these are chapters on soft¬ ware environments, some specific soft¬ ware. the programmer's guide, and the hardware interface and several appendices on the ASCII code chart, character sets, CRTC registers, firmware listing, schema¬ tic diagram and theory of operation. They finish up with a glossary and an index.
With the aid of a manual as good as this. I don’t think that there’s any question that couldn't be answered, but there are so
many ways you can use mis board that it would have been useful to include a quick-reference card so that you don’t need to keep looking at chapters five to eight and appendix B all the time
A very important detail covered in the hardware interface chapter is selecting the correct monitor for use with this card. If you have a standard 9in B & W monitor, then I’m sorry to say it just won’t do. You’ll need one with a much higher bandwidth, and you'll probably find that the persist¬ ence of the phosphor is too short .
What all that means is that the UltraTerm makes much smaller dots than most monitors can handle , so you need one which can respond at a frequency of at least 17MHz. as against the 7 to 8MHz of most monitors.
Colour is perhaps the best indication to choosing a monitor. Most ambers have a long persistence, as do the deeper greens. The pale greens are possible, though they will give a small amount of shimmer, but any B & W is quite useless.
The bandwidth must be checked from the specification . but unless you have some special prejudice, the Apple Monitor is probably the best buy since it has all the necessary characteristics.
PCN JUNE.W-JULY6. I«0
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Qgcipplcz |
Disk Drhe with Controller £270 1 )tsk 1 true without Controller 1 199 1 2 " ( Veen Screen Monitor £99 .Apple III Monitor withstand £ 1 25 |
|
«mly£599* *VAT Immediate Dchvciy!! ‘(When purchased with a part-exchange) |
Apple m Apple 1 1 1 2.56k with monitor £21 W Profile(5Mb Hard Disk) £ 1 495 Additional Disk Drive I143K1 £270 Parallel Interface £ 1 29 OEM Prototyping Board £32 Vinyl Carrying Case £49 |
|
Save an extra £39.00 bv buying a bundle comprising: Apple lie 64k Disk Drive with controller 80 Column Card 1 2" Green Screen Monitor Bundle price only £999*+VAT ’(When purchased with a part -exchange) |
Software (Apple III) Visicalc III £169 Mail last Manager £99 System Software (SOS) £175 Quickfile III £60 Appicwriterlll £133 Business Graphics III £105 Access III £89 Catalyst £128 Script III £75 ( >llk : s.ittw in p-i. es on application |
Software (Apple He)
Visicalc
Visitrend Plot 3.3
.Multiplan
Applewriter lie
Business Graphics
Quickhlellc
Senior Analyst
ATM
Apple licit
Pascal
lllot
Fortran
Logo
Super Pilot
Wordstar
Mailmetge
Word Handler
V'isischcdulc
Other Software prices on ,
£145 £182 £160 £105 £100 £60 £145 £137 £38 £140 £69 £112 £122 £129 £230 £130 £98 £180 application
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Operating Systems & Display 1 |
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Z80 Microsoft Card |
£215 1 |
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Z80 Microsoft Card (lie) |
£325 1 |
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Z80 Digitek Card |
£145 1 |
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Videx 80 Col System |
£189 1 |
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40 80 Column Switch 80 Column 64K |
£2.5 1 |
|
Expander Card |
£149 1 |
|
l*rototype Hobby Card |
£12 1 |
|
IEEE 488 Card |
£215 I |
|
TV Modulator |
£14 I |
|
Epson Printers RX80 |
£279 1 |
|
FX80 |
£379 1 |
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MXKKIF T Type 3 FX80 Tractor Feed |
£420 1 |
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£35 1 |
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IEEF' /Adaptor Board |
£65 1 |
|
Senal Adaptor Board |
£65 1 |
Sirius equipment is available within 48 hours at unprintable prices. Please 'phone for details.
Accessories
Numeric Keypad £78
Paddles £20
Joystick £34
Cooling Fan £45
Voltage Stabiliser £230
Acoustic Coupler £200 10 Floppy Disks £20
lasting Paper 9" £20
Listing Paper 16“ £29
Monitor Stand £18
Vinyl Carrying Case £17
Apple D Accessories
Integer Card £99
FlurocolourCard £73
language Card £106
Paddles £20
Joystick £26
Numeric Keypad £78
Interfaces
Serial 1‘rinter Card Parallel Primer Card Wizard 16K Buffered IF Wizard loK to 32K l 'pgT.idc
Other Printers Apple dot Matrix Apple Daisywheel TEC 40cps Daisywheel TEC 55cps Daisywheel
CHher l*rinter price on application
APPLE
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THE MST ONE
D.J. 'Al' Systems Ltd., Dept D. Station Road, Uminster, Somerset. TA19 9BQ. Telephone: Uminster (04605) 4111
Nominated ‘SOFTWARE PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 1982’, and selected as finalist in Recognition of Information Technology Achievement Awards(RITA)
Construction
The UltraTerm board is a real work of art. if such a thing is possible in an electronic device. The chips are packed, with almost no space between them.
There's more advanced technology in the screen memory, which is 4K of very high-speed static RAM 100
nanoseconds! That's more than twice as fast as good dymanic RAM . and more than four times faster than normal DRAM.
The really tricky stuff is the use of three | PALchips. These are second cousins to the infamous W1.A. but smaller, simpler and far more reliabT On the top of the b&nl is a set of four DIP rocker-switches JMfich are used to select the default open non of the board. There are two setjjqf^Molcx connector-
,1
pins, one for the output signal and light-pen connections (J3), and one which carries composite sync and video signals, as well as the UltraTerm select signal (J6). This last is not explained further, but it would appear that it can be used to pass the output from the UltraTerm to a colour- encoder board . . . 128 x 32 Visicalc in colour? Could be.
Operation
In use the UltraTerm isa real pleasure. The display is solid and crisp with not the slightest trace of instability. The characters are beautifully shaped . and put all others to shame. The actual matrix is9 by 12 for the
standard set, and 9 by 16 for the alternate or high-quality set.
The various options are mostly control¬ led by the use of control characters. This is how the original Videoterm worked and where the functions arc the same, the control character has been kept. This means that old software will work quite happily on the new board.
The UltraTerm is much easier to use than its predecessor, since almost all the standard Basic editing commands have been implemented.
Provided the card is in Slot 3. the UCSD p-system recognises the UltraTerm as a serial device and uses it at bootup. The system can be made to use the wider display modes by using SETUP to build a new SYSTEM. MISCINFO file. Once this has been done, the only detail necessary is to send the correct intialisation string, and this is best done by writing a small program to do the job. Call it SYSTEM. STAR¬ TUP. and it will work at boot time ... I found that the 80 x 48 mode was best for writing text, and the 128 x 32 was best for programming.
The documentation suggests that much the same can be done with CP/M . and that Wordstar, in particular, can be configured to use any of the available display formats.
Under DOS. the various display formats may be selected either by using the control key sequence or by a special set of escape codes. These complement the usual set nicely, and make switching from one format to another easy.
A software case switch is provided by the use of Control A . as is customary on Apple This is the same as on the older card, and applies to all operating systems, but with DOS there is a difference in that Basic keywords entered in lower case (which would be illegal) are converted to upper case before being sent to the computer. This is a brilliant idea, since it obviates the need to constantly switch cases, which was a problem on older boards.
A few thingscould have been better. The most serious shortcoming is the fact that the board does not use the standard window and cursor scratch locations in quite the same way . Writing to locations 36 and 37 will move the cursor, as expected, but reading from them will not necessarily return the correct information.
As for windowing by POKEing locations 32 to 35 forget it. The UltraTerm doesn't even look at them, and even if it
PCN PRO TEST
did. the manual says it would not be possible since the card uses a hardware scrolling method which doesn’t permit this. A pity, but in view of the supporting software, not absolutely essential.
The accompanying disk has an impress¬ ive demonstration, which whetted my appetite ( as it was meant to do ) . Run it . and suddenly almost Lisa-like displays seem eminently possible.
The guarantee period is for 90 days, which is a bit short, but no worse than that offered by many other companies. My only concern is that with such an advanced piece of engineering, and with so many unusual chips, fixing a broken one may prove a lengthy business.
Verdict
This is a real beauty. It's a pleasure to use and works well with every program that might possibly need a wide display. In fact, it is so good that it shines a rather unflattering light on the Apple II.
What a shame Apple didn't see fit to apply the kind of inventiveness that Videx has. Apple's 80-column card is pitifully restrictive and difficult to use in com¬ parison.
Videx claims in its advertising that the UltraTerm will set a new standard for video displays. I think in this case it may well be right. I want one. _
Nmm Videx UltraTe rm AfffcaUM M ulti-mode terminal device Syrtam Apple II Prie* £299 plus VATMamitiftwir Videx CwtMtPeic& Pam
Computers(OI )796 1022/3/4
PCN JUNE JO.JULY t>. 19HJ
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|PCN PRO-TEST | |
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■HARDWARE" |
Mike Whitney thinks the Duet won't necessarily play second fiddle to Sirius and IBM.
Japanese Duet
■■■■■■■■
Several microcomputers based on the Intel 8088 chip have appeared in the past few years. The most popular, in this country at least, is the Sirius — with the IBM PC coming up strongly on the rail. The fact that these machines have been marketed as ‘16-bit' micros has caused some controversy, as the 8088 is in fact an 8-bit chip with 16-bit internal arithmetic only.
From the end-user’s point of view, the question of whether a machine is 8-bit or 16-bit is of no great importance — unless this difference can be shown to affect the performance of the machine. Both the Sirius and the IBM have been a disappoint¬ ment in this respect . as can be seen from the bench test figures published from time to time. It is a tribute more to the marketing skills of the companies concerned than to any inherent qualities of the machine that they sell as well as they do.
But the 8088 has a brother chip — the 8086 — which is, to all intents and purposes identical, except that it has a 16-bit data bus and can therefore be described correctly as a 16-bit chip. Machines based on the 8(186 are now becoming available, and the Duet- 16 is one of them. The Duet is interesting in another way too: it is manufactured in Japan, and is a pointer to the kind of competition to be expected from this quarter when the much heralded Japanese invasion gathers full steam.
Presentation
The hardware is adequately packed in three boxes containing, respectively, the monitor, the keyboard and the processor and manuals. Setting up involves plugging keyboard, screen and printer (if any) into the processor unit with the cables supplied, and checking the configuration switch settings. These switches are readily ac¬ cessible from the back of the cabinet .using a ball-point pen. and specify the disk-drive type, and whether you're using a colour or a monochrome screen . I had no difficulty at all in getting the system connected up and running.
Documentation
The manuals are bound in three matching
ring-binders, with a hinged arrangement allowing them to be placed on the desk-top at an angle so you can turn pages with oni^ hand. This is a useful feature, and I hop* others will copy it.
The manuals are well laid out. inforrjm- tive. and contain detailed line illustrations wherever these are necessary. In some of them, however, the text is marred by rather too many typographical errors. And the quaint phraseology of one or jiffo of them show evidence of their Oriental origins. This caused no prohfcms in practice, but I will never understand why some Japanese manufacturers seem so reluctant to have their copy properly corrected by a native English speaker.
The manuals supplied are the MSDOS diskette operating system manual.
Basic language manual, tory manual describing
I was also supplied with software . of which
more
Construction
The Duet is very solidly constructed and should stand up well to normal use. As 16-bit machines contain quite a bit more electronics than their 8-bit counterparts. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the processor unit, complete with two 5in drives, has been fitted into a box 15.5 x 13 x 3.5in. There are two for this: the electronics have been carefully laid out. and the drives used are of the ‘slim-line’ variety — only about half the height of normal drives.
The Duet is supplied in three basic configurations. The processor unit is common to all three . but there is a choice of
The keyboard is pleasant to use. Each section is well- defined and colour-coded with¬ out being harsh on the eye. Along the top are eight prog¬ rammable function keys giving
PCN JUNE JO- JULY 6. 1983
|
PCN PRO-TEST |
||
configuration includes a standard keyboard, with 12in amber monitor. The colour configuration has the same keyboard but with a high-quality 12in colour monitor. The third choice includes a slightly smaller but similarly laid-out keyboard and a 5.5in green monochrome monitor, providing portability of sorts.
The system supplied for review inclqc^ the colour monitor ^ and standard keyboard These both appeared to be of adequately solid construction
I efid have occasion to take the lid off. and can report that the electronic construction is of the high standard we have come to expect of the Japanese
Keyboard
The keyboard is a separate, low-profile. 95-key unit. The keys are arranged in four well-separated groups — essential for a keyboard of this size. The alphanumeric keyboard is arranged in standard Selectric fashion — no ISO nonsense here! To its right is a small group of cursor and other control keys, and there is a standard numeric pad on the extreme right.
The eight programmable function keys are sensibly arranged along the top of the keyboard, making it simple to locate the required function from the function-key display on line 25 of the screen . These keys are modified by the shift keys, giving a maximum of 16 programmable functions.
The keys have a light, but smooth and positive feell. Programmers in my experi¬ ence usually preferstiff keys whereas other users — particularly typists — like a lighter movement, as found here. It's very much a matter of taste . but I had no problems with accidental double-keying or miskeying as I have had on some other very soft keyboards.
A sterling sign is available (as shifted '3') by a software command, although this is not indicated on the key-cap.
Screen
The Duet- 16’s screen can function either in text mode . 40 or 80 columns by 24 lines, or in high-resolution graphics mode (640 by
■2553
400 pixels). The text font exploits felly the resolution of the screen and is of high quality, and text can be superimposed on graphics without restriction. Ac high- resolution graphics function with all three screen options, although, of course, in monochrome only with the two monochrome screens.
With the colour screen, eight colours (black, blue, red, magenta, green, cyan, yellow and white) are available indepen¬ dently at each pixel, and for each character on the text screen. All the colours are pure and well saturated with no trace of fringing or other aberration. I doubt if you wifi be able to find better on any other machine in this class.
Colour graphics of this quality require a lot of memory, and the designers of the Duct have approached this problem in rather a novel way* With the minimum memory configuration, only fell colour text is implemented, to ensure that a reasonable amount of meajfhy is left available for user programs. With each 128K of additional memory installed 32K is reserved for high-resolution colour, enabl¬ ing the full range of colour features to be utilised. To be able to program high- resolution graphics you will also need Advanced Basic, since the standard Basic has no high-resolution capability.
Storage
i^The basic configuration includes 128K of RAM. of which 32K is reserved for the f screen, and 32K for the operating system f software. If the standard Basic is in use. a further 32K is occupied by the interpreter, leaving 32K for the user program. If Advanced Basic is in use. 50K is required for the interpreter, leaving a mere 14K for user programs. Up to two additional 128K memory banks can be added internally, and at least one of these will almost certainly be required if you will be using Advanced Basic. They cost £420 each, which is a bit on the steep side. The memory can be made up to a full 512K by the addition of an external memory unit.
Two 5.25in floppy diskette drives, with a formatted capacity of over 700K each, come as standard — this is more than twice the capacity of the maximum configuration on the IBM PC. A 10Mb Winchester drive is also available, and a 16Mb drive will be available shortly.
The floppy drives will not normally read IBM format diskettes, but software is available to make this possible; at the moment, this is supplied only to software houses, but it may later be made available to end-users.
Duet-1*
The VDU (
produces a very gooa pi enure and you have the choice of 12ln
The main unit b angular but smaNer than it looks— at the left side you can aee the boss, which is where the handle goes. Thus you get a hind of portability
The printer (top) is a thermal-type, 80 columns wide. Three slots in the front dip H to the back of the main unit and the cutaway gives space for the plugs.
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
43
CTR . Etched non- glare. green or ember
Stgruil . Composite video input
Input Signal . VO Vp-p sync negate*)
Input Impedance 75 ohm*
Scan Frequencies Horizontal 1 6 75 KHz. Vertical 50/00 Hz
Display Size . 210 (W) * 158 (H) mm
DeflecOon bneanty Horizontal 10% Max. (refer to EIA be!
chat and dot pattern) Vertical: 8%
Video Hasponss 1 8 MHz (±3dB)
Resolution . Centre 900 hnas Comer* 800 fane*
Power Source 120/220 V Convert**! 50/00 Hz
Controls . See diagram (locus std>- brightness H size
V-hneanty and VB ac>ruetment are on PCS)
-€>
Roland (UK) Ltd Great West Trading Estate 983 Great West Rd. Brentford Middx TW8 9DN Telephone: 01-568 4578 Telex: 934470
If you’re serious about your BBC Micro...
get some serious Software!
PSIOM
SOFTWARE
Microcomputers weren’t created just to play arcade games or to be left unused once you’ve learnt the basics of computing. Micros are amazing machines and have many serious uses, but they are only as efficient as the software you run on them.
Psion are one of Europe’s largest producers of microcomputer software with sales now exceeding one million packages. Our policy is to create quality software that takes full advantage or the processing power of your microcomputer and uses its capacity to the full.
We have now rewritten two of our most popular programs for use on the BBC Microcomputers ( Model B or Model A with J2K RAM). Vu-Calc and Vu-File are powerful software packages that make practical and serious use of your microcomputer.
Supplied on cassette, they are designed for use with cassette or disk systems, and each program comes with a detailed user manual. Vu-Calc and Vu-File constitute essential software that no serious microcomputer user should be without.
I'he Versatile Spreadsheet Program
Vu-Calc is a powerful program that constructs a spreadsheet for generating and calculating large tables of interdependent text, data and formulae.
A ‘window ' for viewing the spreadsheet can be scrolled in any direction SO that the effects of new figures and formulae on all the other data can he observed.
Vu-Calc is supplied with a dear and detailed 16-page user manual, and its hundreds of applications inrlude:- • < ash flow Projections • Home finance Management • Engineering and Statistical Tables • Investment forecasting • Business Planning • Profit and I oss Statements • Break Even Analvsis. and other complex calculation models £14.95
The Complete Filing System
Vu-file is a powerful data base management system that turns your microcomputer into a sophisticated general purpose filing system for manipulating information of all kinds.
Vu-fUe can be used to create dedicated data bases to suit your most varied needs, features such as order, sequence, search, list and copy make Vu-file the most essential data handling software package available for microcomputer owners. Vu-file is supplied with a dear and detailed 16-page user manual, and its infinite applications indude:-
• Catalogues of stamps, coins, books, records etc.
• Names and Addresses • Mailing lists
• Customer Accounts • Estate Agents lists
• Medical Records • Club Memberships
• Kecordsand listsofaU kinds. £14.95
Order Vu-Calc and/or Vu-file by using your Access or Barclay card or send cheque/postal order for 04.95 per package to:- BBC Software Psion lid..
2 llunlsworth Mews, Gloucester Place, london NWI 6DI).
I nquiries can also be made at W.ll. Smith or your local retailer.
Please make cheques and postal orders payable to Psion l td., and allow 14 days for delivery.
PSIOM SOP I WAPE
VUCALC/
PSIOtH SOFTVAARE HE]
VU FILE /
^TO: BBC Software.
Psion l td.. 2 Huntsworth Mews. Gloucester Place, I ondon NWI 6DI). 7"
I Please send me the following Software I | packages at 04.95 per package.
Vu-Calc (£14.95 inc p&p and VAT) □ ?
Vu-Rle (£14.95 inc.p&p and VAT) Q
* I enclose a chequc/postal order for £ -
made payable to Psion Ltd.
•Please charge my Access/Bardaycard Account Number _
Signature
NAME_
Delete as appropriate
To the Retailer
Contact Psion to find out details of substantial discounts for trade orders of our best selling computer software.
◄43
PCN PRO-TEST
HARDWARE
any ASCII type printer. I tried it with an Apple dot matrix printer (which is in fact a modified C.Itoh), and had no difficulty at all.
There is no other provision internally for expansion , since the Duet’s designers have chosen to provide expansion features which come as extras on other machines as standard.
Software
The standard operating system supplied is MSDOS. as on the IBM PC. CP/M-86 is promised as an option by August and a multi-user version of Unix will be made available in this country early next year — it is already in use in Japan. Basic 86 is supplied as standard, with Basic A (an advanced version, similar to IBM Basic A. but with several extensions to exploit the colour graphics capabilities of the Duet) as an option.
Versions of WordStar. MailMerge and SpellStar. and the spreadsheet package Multiplan, all modified to use the colour features of the Duct, are now available, as is Microfocus level II Cobol. with Forms-2 and Animator. This is one of the best Cobols available on microcomputers. An accounting package — the Dataserve DTS system — is also available, again adapted to use colour text.
Lambart says that the Derwent Data Systems Retrieve database software is ready, and the company is looking for other packages suitable for the Duet . Since MSDOS is the standard IBM PC operating system, it is likely that there will soon be a very respectable choice of software for this machine.
Verdict
There are two ways of summing up this machine: first, in relation toother 8086 and
The only trouble I experienced with the system occurred when one of the floppy drives failed to function correctly. The importer. Lambart. immediately supplied a complete replacement system unit, and informed me that this will be standard policy in the event of hardware failures. Unfortunately, one of the drives on this one also failed to function correctly. Transferring a drive from one machine to the other solved this problem.
Lambart says that the only problems that have previously arisen with the drives have been caused by diskettes without rein¬ forcement rings. Considering the un¬ doubted quality of the rest of the hardware , I am certainly inclined to give the company the benefit of the doubt here, and put this malfunction down to Murphy's Law.
Expansion
The Duet- 16 has three serial ports and one Centronics parallel port fitted as standard . so enabling any type of printer or com¬ munications device to be used without the need for additional boards. An IEE-488 interface board is available as an option, if required.
A small thermal printer, which can be clipped to the back of the system unit, is also available. At first I was puzzled by this, as a machine of this class deserves a rather more professional quality service: but this printer is supplied for use with the small screen and keyboard, and a purpose- built carrying-case, to provide portability. The thermal printer has an unusually wide range of print options, and produces a quite reasonable print quality, but only on specially treated roll-paper.
The standard system can be configured to make full use of all the features of two C.Itoh dot-matrix printers and two C. Itoh daisywheels or to use the basic features of
8088 machines, and second, in relation to microcomputers in general. The Duet- 16 is based on a true 16-bit 8086 chip, running at 8 MHz. I used an Apple lie, based on a 6502 chip running at 1MHz. as a bench¬ mark for a simple series of timing tests of the four standard Basic arithmetic opera¬ tions. On a very rough and ready basis one would expect — all else being equal — an eight times improvement in execution speed because of the CPU clock speed . and a further doubling or better because of 16-bit operation.
Judged by this criterion, the perform¬ ance is disappointing to say the least. The greatest improvement I measured was in multiplication, where 10,000 repeats of 'A=A*A' took 31 seconds on the Apple and 19secondson the Duet-16. Even this is not as good as it looks, since single- precision ( seven digits) is used on the Duet . whereas the Apple operates at a precision of nine digits, and would therefore be expected to take longer.
There could be many of reasons for this. Performance is affected by a number of factors, including clock-speed, the effi¬ ciency with which the CPU uses dock- cycles, and Basic interpreter software efficiency. Both of the machines men¬ tioned have Basic interpreters written by Microsoft, and there seems no good reason to expect any wide variation in their quality.
I have long believed that the 8086/8088 family of chips, taking into account the software which is assodated with it, is a blind alley in the forward march of microcomputer technology, and the Duet- 16 has given me no reason to reconsider this opinion — in fact it has reinforced it.
Others may disagree with this view, but of all the machines using 8086/8088 chips, to my knowledge none has yet appeared
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6, I9K3
■ VII ■ ItV-IVVI
HARDWARE
which has produced the kind of perform¬ ance improvement over the earlier 8-bit technology which could reasonably be expected.
But given that you have a particular requirement for a machine based on the 8086. you would be well advised to look seriously at the Duet before deciding to go for the Sirius or IBM PC. It appears to be significantly faster than either of them, and has a number of convenience improve¬ ments. The diskette capacity is twice that of the IBM. and the colour screen and graphics are in a different league.
As regards price, this is heavily depen¬ dent on the extra features you will require. The basic configuration is £2,595 for the standard monochrome version . and £2 .995 for the colour or portable versions. This
includes all the input/output ports you arc A (£250) and an extra memory board likely to need. (£420). but even with these extra costs, I
If you want full colour high-resolution suspect that the Duet-16 will prove graphics you will have to fork out for Basic competitive.
|
SPECIFICATION |
|
|
Price |
£2 .995 ( £2 .495 for monochrome ) |
|
Processor |
Intel 8086 running at 8MHz |
|
RAM memory |
1 28K expandable to 384K internally |
|
ROM memory |
Bootstrap and diagnostics |
|
Text screen |
40 or 80 x 25 . eight colours |
|
Graphics screen |
640 x 400, eight colours |
|
Keyboard |
95 keys, eight function keys, numeric keypad |
|
Storage |
Two720K5'/4in half-height drives |
|
OS. language |
MSDOS. Basic 86 (Advanced Basic extra) |
|
Distributor |
Lambart . 52 Moorbridgc Road. Maidenhead. Berks, tel: 062872037. |
|
Software supplied |
None |
Internally the machine is neat ami solid. The main board is underneath, with the various interfaces on cards at the back. The drives are well-protected in metal with the power supply beside them.
The back of the main unit (below) showing the clips for the printer. There are two central ports, an auxiliary connector and a Centronics port At the right are several DIP switches, used for configuration.
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
47
GAMEPLAY
MICRO CHESS
ORICl
Knights and days
Name One Che« Syttam Onc-4#K Price £9.99 PmWMmt I ransoft . 0353-2271 Format Cassette Language Bask and machine code Outlets Mail order
Far from being squeezed out by arcade games, chess is alive and well and living on micros of just about every make you can think of. The Oric-1 is no exception, since Tansoft has just brought out a chess game, with five levels of difficulty and classy graphics.
The micro is your opponent and you enter moves by giving the starting and finishing co¬ ordinates of your chosen piece.
In play
Your only instrutions for the game are held as the first file on the cassette, not on paper. Learn how to play the game first, since the instructions assume you are a player already.
Loading this tape I found to be a little difficult, with both volume and tone levels needing to be set precisely. And though the first file should load the second automatically according to the instructions, it wouldn't oblige for me.
Once loaded, the display shows the board, a scratch-pad where moves are displayed, and messages. The graphics are good enough to play the game without needing to use a board of your own. But the standard
of play was quite a different
story.
Of the five levels of play, I won easily at the first three levels. At levels four and five. I found things were little better. The delay between moves was so long that I lost all patience with the game , and quickly gave up.
I thought the length of think¬ ing time was out of all propor¬ tion to the level of difficulty the game offers.
Oric Chess lacks a number of features that are standard in other programs. For example, there is no facility to set up the board for problem solving, the computer will not suggest a move, you cannot move be¬ tween levels of play during a game.
The result is a medicore game of chess and little else.
Verdict
I am a keen chess player but I’m no Boris Spassky so I think a lot of people will be disappointed with Oric Chess. A 48K machine with averv fast proces¬ sor is capable of greater things than this.
It is not without redeeming qualities, however. Error checking for invalid moves is of a very high standard and the endgame is strong.
The graphics are excellent with each piece clearly defined, and after moves have been entered both the piece to be moved and its destination square are flashed.
David Janda
RATINGS Lasting appeal
Playability ««
Use of machine rtrt
Overall value ft ft
COMMODORE 64
Master
games
NaMtCirand Master System Commodore 64 Price £17.95 PuMbhor Audiogenic, PO Box 88, Reading. Berks, t cl 1 1 17 34 > 586334 Format Cassette Language Machine code Other versions Yu. 2n0utlots.ill major suppliers.
Grand Master is the latest in a long line of chess programs for microcomputers, and this one runs on a Commodore 64. with cassette deck.
You’re greatly helped in Grand Master by a very clear display, and a large number of special facilities. Although the game commences with a black board on a white background, screen, border and background colours can be changed throughout the game if required.
In play
There are ten levels of play, with a response time ranging from about five seconds up to hours and even days.
While waiting for a move from the computer, the best move it has thought of so far is displayed on the screen, and if you wish, simplv pressing RUNSTOP will make it take that move.
When it’s your move, you enter your move with the co¬ ordinates of the square you want to move from, and the co-ordinates of the one you want to go to. Correcting moves
is done by pressing the DEL key. and you can even take back moves by using the left arrow key.
While Grand Master is playing from its large repertoire of opening moves, and before entering the middle game, you can ask for a hint on what it thinks your best move is. Thus it canbe an instructive opponent.
All moves are timed throughout play and the clocks resent to zero after every game . You have the option of playing either black or white but cannot swop during a game.
Grand Maste r does appear to be better at defending than at attacking, as is the case with many chess programs. Throughout the middle game it pulls its punches and doesn’t go in for the kill.
In the end game, though, the program is avery effective opponent indeed. It goes straight for the jugular.
Finally . it sticks to the rules of chess allowing castling, capturing en passant and promotion. But it suffers one fault: when promoting a pawn you automatically get a queen, it chooses what it wants.
Verdict
That one error apart this is a superior chess game and provides worthy opposition for players up to quite a high standard.Thedisplayisgood.it is extremely versatile and cannot really be faulted.
A helpful instruction manual completes a value-for-money package.
Pete Gerrard
RATING
Lasting appeal W
Playability
Use of machine ««««« Overal value
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 19*0
FROM FOX ELECTRONICS
SPECTRUM
UPGRADES
(ISSUE 2 MACHINES ONLY)
TURN YOUR 16K SPECTRUM INTO A 48 K FOR ONLY
£21.00
A high quality kit at a low, low price. This Spectrum upgrade is easily fitted by anyone in approximately 15-20 mins and requires no soldering or alterations to your Spectrum. Simply pushes into existing socket. Full step by step instructions supplied and if for any reason you are not satisfied with the kit return to us undamaged within 1 4 days and we will refund your money.
Also available for both the
SPECTRUM or ZX81
The FD42 Keyboard. A Keyboard to house your Spectrum ZX81 PCB and give you a full typewriter type keyboard, no soldering or electronic knowledge re¬ quired to fit. Only
ZX81
£29.05
THE BEST
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RAM PACK AT THESE NEW LOW PRICES
VIC20
More memory for your VIC20
Vixen RAM Cartridge lor the VIC20
Switchable between 16K or 8K + 3K Gives you the option of full 16K RAM or 8K and 3K RAM in one package When added to a Standard VIC20 gives 16384 bytes of extra memory in memory blocks 1 and 2 or 3092 bytes of extra memory into the 3K memory block AND 8192 bytes of extra memory switchable between memory blocks 1 and 3
Fully compatible with available motherboards modules Simply plugs into the rear expansion port of computer No re-addressmg of existing BASIC programs needed
16K
£19.50
(+ 45p P&P)
32K
£34.00
(+ 45p P&P)
The ZX-PANDA. a 16K RAM pack expandable at any time to 32K by simple plug-in insertion of a £14.50 module.
The ZX-PANDA, a specially contoured unit, designed to eliminate wobble and memory loss. Housed in a very attractive case and now at very attractive prices!
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KEYBOARD FOR THE ZX81 Another replacement keyboard, this one with a calcula- 1 enclose my remittance lor tor type feel. Peel off backing and press to fit at only Name
£9.75 + 25p p&p
Address
No-Wobble Design
The Cheetah Rampack fits tightly into the^^Bl back of your ZX Spectrum computer so there's no chance of a loose connection losing your programme . J
Fully Compatible! \
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-EES3HT
SPACE DODGES
BBC
Orion ups and downs
Name Escape from Orion SytUm
BBC 32 K PrtM £f>.7< Publisher Hope soft. Hope Cottage. Winterbourne. Newbury. Berks RG 16 8BB Format Cassette Language Machine code Out tats Mail order.
Escape from Orion is another of those games involving a lot of running up and down ladders and across platforms collecting things and awaiting the atten¬ tions of an assortment of grem¬ lins bent on doing you in.
Objectives
You are landed in the top left-hand corner of the screen by a flying saucer. Then you have to scale the scaffolding, pick up an assortment of goodies and get back to your waiting vehicle and away un¬ scathed (could have been called Supermarket Shopping). You also have the ability to make running jumps to clear holes or low-flying missiles.
Variety is provided by four different sets of scaffolding. You can choose which voit’d prefer to climb. Variations within these include conveyor belts, agremlin launching dead¬ ly missiles, vertically moving platforms, electric doors which come down and trap you. and a gobbler which can dispense the ultimate penalty if given the opportunity.
In play
Those of you familiar with
Donkey Kong and its arcade variants should find yourselves at home with this one. Control of the player is similar but there isalsoenough that is sufficiently different to ring the changes.
The availability of four screen formats is a big plus and should increase the enjoyment of playing it . if only because you are less likely to get bored or stumped — you just move on to another variation. Multiply this by the selectable difficulty levels and it should keep the most easily jaded gamesperson amused for a while.
The graphics are pretty good too. The hero of the piece is recognisably humanoid — you almost feel his desperation as he struggles against the conveyor belt. He did seem to have problems with one of the plat¬ forms. however, which insisted on impaling him even though a neutral observer declared he had landed fair and square.
The best feature is the 'jump'. A bang on the space bar and our hero does a slow- motion leap.
Verdict
Escape from Orion seems a good investment for kceo ac¬ tion games players. There aie facilities for both keyboard and joystick operation and the graphics arc good enough to keep you identified with the starring screen object — espe¬ cially if you're very short and walk with a limp in both legs.
Ian Scales
RATING Lasting appeal Playability Use of machine Overall value
□
SPECTRUM
Planets of plenty
NamaJei PatSyslemSpcctrum IAK Prtee 1 5 50 PuMaher Ultimate Play thcGame(0530)4l 14X5 Fermat (avscrieOutMsWH Smith. John Menses, Sinclair dealers, mail order.
Jet Pac is the first product from a newly formed company which claims it has ‘the most experi¬ enced arcade video game de¬ sign team in Britain.'
Objective
In a word — greed. You’re the chief test pilot for Acme Inter¬ stellar T ransport and have been asked to go to various planets and assemble rockets. But that seems a mildly boring activity — once you’ve built one rocket the others are the same.
So when you arrive on the planet and start jetting around, you decide to take a few ‘souvenirs' in the form of jewels, elements and gold — which oddly keep falling from the sky.
The aliens are a mite peeved that you've tried to walk off with their treasure, without so much as paying the V in VAT. So you have to shoot them with your Quad Photon Laser Phas- ers
You also have to fuel the rocket you've assembled in order to get off each planet — and that means collecting six fuel pods — which also drop from the skies.
First impressions
This is one of the only cassette- based games — no. the only —
I’ve ever played whose on¬ screen graphics match the artists' impressions that look so enticing on cassette sleeves. The documentation is also quite sufficient to explain the princi¬ ple. so Jet Pac wins on both counts.
In play
The first planet features fire¬ ball-type creatures that don't get in your way too much as you build your rocket and then re-fuel to move on to the next planet. The trick is to stay hovering above the planet on the three 'safe areas' above the ground — if you don't the fireballs will get you.
However, the air seems thin¬ ner at the top of the screen and the aliens tend to keep away from it. The second planet harbours mean furry creatures, the third vicious bouncing spheres and the fourth some strange-looking little insects.
The insects are a new breed of tough creature that jealously guard both jewels and fuel pods and seems to have a heat¬ seeking capability that allows them to follow you around. The fifth planet (I didn't get .m\ further than that) features flying saucers which seem even meaner than the insects.
Verdict
Little to say here, except that I have never had more fun playing a game on the Spec¬ trum
A classic which should rank with Space Invaders and Pac- man in the computer game annals of fame.
Geof Wheelwright
RATING Lasting appeal Playability Use of machine Overall value
«««««
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
A microcomputer is only as useful as the software package run on it. And - until now - finding the package tailored to your needs (or your customers’) hasn’t been too easy.
Now, Microcomputer Software Directory is here. It’s the complete for buyers and sellers, helping you both identify and - just as importantly - locate the most suitable software packages.
We’ve included details of over 3,000 painstakingly edited business packages, as well as some of the more exciting games.
Finding the right package
A glance at our twelve main category headings confirms just how comprehensive Microcomputer Software Directory is. 3,100 software products are listed, under these titles: Systems Software* Utilities* Accounting* Management Systems* Other Business & Commercial Systems* Professional Services* Industry & Manufacturing* Retail & Distribution* Scientific* Educational* Government* Games/Home/Hobby* Miscellaneous*
Each entry gives the package name, function, supplier, cost and also tells you which machines it will run on.
Matching with your machine
If you already have a machine, you’ll want to know about compatibility. So we've included an index by machine make and model. And, just to make life easier still, we also cross refer machine type with operating system.
. . . ■ . . . . "i *r«r,r-u, f.
Nom/Pur chase /Nominal. ABS Slock/ Stock Recording ABS Payroll/ Payroll
Knowing where to go
There’s little point in identifying the perfect package unless you know where to go for it. Our separate alpha listing of suppliers provides all the information you need; addresses, phone numbers, who to speak to, and an outline of which other packages are available from them. This section could save you a few fruitless journeys.
Pinpointing special needs
Some packages may be tailored to the unique require ments of your business or profession. The quick reference Occupation Index at the back of the book can cut your search time to minutes. And if you already know of a package by name, just go straight to it They’re all indexed by title and acronym in the A-Z index.
GMS - Garage Management System (page 23)
In short, if you want to find exactly what you’re looking for. Microcomputer Software Directory is exactly what you’ve been looking for.
MICROCOMPUTER SOFTWARE DIRECTORY
The Complete Guide for Buyers and Sellers.
I would like to receive a copy of the Microcomputer Software Directory Order by using this form,
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_ _ _ _ _ _ PC N 1 7 1
GAMEPLAY
Adventure-scout Mike Gerrard has an elvish time in his quest for the Ring of Darkness.
iJ ADVENTURE
isn't quite as good as you'd find if it were a complete game in itself, but it is still quite impress¬ ive. I wonder if there’s more in there than the giant rat that's seen me off twice so far?
To givf you some idea of the options you'll have, the com¬ mands include Attack. Cast a Spell. Enter. Board a Craft. Inform and Search. Transact, Climb, Steal. Get and Unlock. As the game progresses, you might need to use these in combination, and there naturally an increasing number of items available to you, such as weapons, spells and so on.
One useful feature the game has is instant reincarnation. Your character, when de¬ ceased, will be returned to a different part of the map to start all over again. My own charac¬ ter. Godorful. turned out to be rather appropriately named, and he still hasn't figured out how to cross the river that divides the map in two. or how to cross the lake to discover what's hiding on the island. Perhaps I'll try him again with a few more intelligence points, or turn him into a dwarf warrior and see what happens.
Verdict
The responses to your keyboard entries are instant, though in certain places the printing doesn't stay on the screen long enough for you to take all your options in. But apart from that . and the typical¬ ly high Dragon software price, you won't get bored with the game for some time.
RATING Lasting appeal
handed a supply of gold, food, and what are called Hit and Experience points. The former measure your mortality when up against bandits and the like; take too long to dispose of your attacker and your Hit points diminish and you die.
Experience points build up as you go. and represent your skill in dealing with some of the problems you'll come across. Your food will last you just 21 days, each movement on the map (controlled by the arrow keys) taking one day . To let you know the size of your task .there are almost 3.000 travel days on the map. on which you appear as a flashing red Z to tell you where you are.
Various interesting land¬ marks are scattered about the countryside, so naturally you head for one of them. But don't worry. I’m not going to commit the reviewer’s mortal sin of giving away too much about the game itself. Only experience will tell you how todeal with the various problems, and when you're killed yet again you'll find yourself muttering. Now if only I'd hqd one of those. I could have seen him off. So where do I get one?
What you ought to know is that some of the landmarks when approached and entered turn into separate graphics routines. You therefore have many other places to explore, and you aren't simply moving about the main map the whole time. Some of these locations will even help you solve the problem of your diminishing food supply.
The 3D maze is a welcome inclusion, and shows that the writer. John Humphreys, hasn’t stinted on the game's features. The quality and size
DRAGON 32 K
Ring-pull
plan
Nmm The Ring of Darkness Sr*U» Dragon 32 Nn £10
MMa Winiersoft. 30 Uplands Park Road. Enfield. Middlesex
EN2 7PT. 01 -367 5720 Fannat Cassette l—ga^i Basic and machine code Other wnlm Spectrum. One to come OuNata Boots . Dragon dealers, mail order Until now, the Dragon has been more than a little lacking in adventure games, despite the fact that the machine has 32K to play with. But this adventure/ graphics quest from Wintersoft uses up all that memory and more. If you don’t understand how that’s possible, read on.
Objectives
Your task is to find Shedir. the Ring of Darkness, hidden somewhare in the enchanted land. This is presented to you as a high-resolution map at the start of the game. It’s a land of forests, lakes, rivers and other enchanting features, but also of less-than-enchanting ones such as bandits, dungeons and giant rats.
You name your own charac¬ ter. and you also decide on the various qualities you are going to have . The game plays slightly differently according to your choice.
First impressions
The fold-out cassette insert gives you all the basic instruc¬ tions you need, including the 14
single-key commands, without giving too much away about the adventure itself, which takes up both sides of the cassette and loads in several stages. You arc quite rightly advised to have a blank tape handy to save a game in progress, as you are unlikely to finish it at one sitting, unless you have stamina above and beyond the call of duty.
Even when the game has apparently been loaded, you must keep the tape in the cassette player, there being a separate 3D maze that you may stumble across at some point of your quest, and as this couldn't be sqeezed into the Dragon's available memory it has to be loaded by itself when needed. This means that when you come out of the maze, dead or alive, the tape needs rewinding and part of the main program re¬ loading. but this takes very little time and is a small price to pay for the fun of the maze itself. All these instructions for loading and reloading are in the prog¬ ram and are quite easy to follow.
In play
The adventure itself isn't so easy. I began by trying to think up a suitable fantasy-type name for my character, and christ¬ ened him Godorful. Next I distributed 40 points between the qualities of intelligence, strength and agility, to decide whether he was an elf. a dwarf or a human, and whether his principal skill was that of a thief, a warrior or a wizard. This completed the build-up of the character, and Godorful the wizard elf was born.
Before setting off. you are
PCN JUNE JO-JULY 6. 1W3
GAMEPLAY
Mike Gerrard looks at Spectrum releases, confronting amazing mazes and alien invasions
Spectrum spectacle
And still they come at you. trying to turn your home into the ultimate arcade. Games good, bad and indifferent — this latest batch of I6K Spec¬ trum cassettes has examples of all three.
BEETLEMANIA
To start with Vvy. — the good . Beet- Icmama is a "■ill Wm Pacman style B1B“B“ game, written in machine code, in which four beetles chase you round a maze . I found it even more addictive than the original it is based on. For one thing, the graphics are excellent, with the green beet¬ les scuttling round like scor¬ pions, while the man races frantically along with his little legs going at nineteen to the dozen.
The game begins with a brief demonstration showing you how you're to collect the eggs, which are left one at a time by the beetles, and deposit them safely in what is described for some reason as a lock. Eggs and locks appear randomly in the maze, and when four eggs have been safely collected an exit will flash, and you must scurry out of that to the next level.
This is the same maze, but with several of the walls joined up. so giving you a little less breathing space. Succeed here and the same thing happens again, making it very tricky indeed to avoid the beetles in the increasing numbers of blind alleys. Further success takes you back to the original maze, opened up again, but this time with a purple spider racing along the corridors to add to your problems. Beyond that I don't know, as the spider got me every time.
This increasing difficulty is a welcome feature, as is the sensible way the control keys are spread: Q for up. Z for down. I for left and P for right. You have five lives, three skill levels, and while there is a high-score record the game’s only fault is that as soon as the last life is lost it switches instantly back to the opening screen without giving you a chance to check your score . But that apart, congratulations to
the game's author. Steve Hughes, for improving on a good original.
MAZE CHASE
Whatacontrast fwy ™ to Maze Chase . k kl which is a sim-
1||| !■ pie (and I do ,,B — B“ mean simple) variation on the same game. The action is quick enough, being also in machine code, but this isn't so much Pacman as Matchstickman . Control here is by use of the arrow keys, which has never seemed to me the most sensible part of the Spec¬ trum keyboard layout, and the graphics are disappointing after Bectlemania.
There arc four mazes in the 16K version, with 12 in the 48K program also on the tape, and your opening options are in¬ structions. demonstration, re¬ setting the high-score to zero, or play. A major complaint is that if you don't press any key within about 30 seconds, which is quite possible if you've left the tape to load, you automati¬ cally get a long demonstration game, with all three lives, and no way to break out of it that I could find. Otherwise you get the usual features of four ghosts, fruit to eat, and in¬ creased speed as you go. Not a patch on the original, though.
Jawz is the underwatei D space invaders g which most people will know — in fact you'll need to know it as there are no instruc¬ tions in the program to explain exactly what you’re meant to be doing. You are told the control keys and the cassette insert tells you that you're meant to be killing the sharks while avoid¬ ing the poison pellets the jelly¬ fish at the top of the sea are dropping down on you.
This isn't a game that ever particularly appealed to me. but Jawz is an adequate if slightly limited adaptation offe ri ng you a one or two-player game, a high-score record and three skill levels. Unfortunate¬ ly the sharks look as fright¬ ening as a bowl of goldfish.
GALAKZIONS
The aliens in Mikro - Gen’s Galakzions are more menacing — or at least the first five rows are. The final row contains what look remarkably like two pairs of flying yellow knickers. The action in this game should be fast enough to appeal to the addicts, though the creatures don't move off the side of the screen and back on again.
In fact the aliens are quite restrained to begin with, the first wave peeling off in ones and twos and firing very few shots at you — but you have to watch the shots they do fire, which spit down the screen with great speed. From the second wave on. though, they come at you in great swirling bunches, and while they don't exhibit the usual nasty tendency to herd you into a corner for the kill, they are nevertheless very nip¬ py movers — especially those knickers. Not a perfect copy, then, but still a satisfying ver-
cndangcrcd species.
With the wealth of colour available on the Spectrum, it's hard to see why anyone would choose to make the creatures purple against a black back¬ ground. unless they have a strong sadistic streak. As with Galakzions. if you like the original you probably won't be disappointed with the speed and features of this version . The man turns into an ominous skull and crossbones should he be sent to meet his maker, while if you fail to bash an alien after luring him into a hole he will change colour (or she will, it being difficult to tell with aliens). It will then take a plunge through two holes to see the alien off.
If you fail again you get another colour change . and will need three holes to despatch him. After that, forget it. A choice of skill levels would have been nice, but you can’t have everything. I suppose.
Both these Mikro-Gen games will work with Mikro- Gen joysticks, though when I attempted to use my Kempston ones I got some very odd results. Or maybe I've just been killing too many aliens lately. I don't know.
'□ better known.
VJ B comes from the ^ same company.
It is the familiar aliens and ladders game where you control a little man. or as in this version, a tall thin man, who is being pursued along levels and up ladders by nasty little creatures which he must kill by luring them into holes and then bashing them on the head.
It's just as well they're not an
£4.95, AWA Software. 50 Dundonald Road. Didsburv. Manchester M200RU. 061-445 4081
Man Chaaa, £4 95. Hcwson Consultants. 60a St Mary’s Street. Wallingford. Oxon OX100EL Jawz, £4 95, Elfin Software. Hudsons House. Battery Road. Great Yarmouth NR30 3NN. (0493)53170
Galakdoas and Panic. £5.95 each. Micro-Gen. 24 Agar Crescent. Bracknell. Berkshire RG12 2BK. (0639) 887730
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
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VIC TAPE BACKUP
VIC TAPE BACKUP is a new and unique machine-code program which can provide security backup copies of most VIC-20 programs currently available.
• wnil backup most types ol program, in BASIC or machine-code
• Detailed instructions provided
• Very easy to use with audio-visual prompting system
• No risk to original tapes
• Works with all memory configurations
• Allowance tor load errors
• Written by Raeto West, noted exponent of PET CBM VIC
Price £7.95 (Includes VAT. poet and packing — no extras)
Send orders with Cheque PO crossed a c payee made out to Level Software Lid lo the distributors
LEVEL SOFTWARE LTD, P.O. BOX 55. SHIRLEY. SOUHULL B90 SSL. TEL: 021-5436729
ORIC SOFTWARE
Dept. CGI11 118 Worcester Rd, Malvern, Worts., WR14 1SS
SPECIALIST SUPPLIERS OF ORIC SOFTWARE
I IMITED OFFER
SPECIAL PRICE 48K ORIC
lor only
£149.95
POST FREE UK ONLY
AVAILABLE NOW. SOFTWARE CATALOGUE FREE WITH EVERY PURCHASE OR SEHO £1 .00 WHICH WILL BE DEOUCTEO FROM YOUR FIRST ORDER
Min tor SmewSiS™ •enjTjviilaDe'sorne'cr meMtofire Mininwr
(DEALERSHIP ENQUIRIES WELCOME - APPLY ON LETTERHEAD)
ZODIAC *»X SSS
BIORHYTHMS 44k * •*
SYNTHESIZER 4»k 7 »*
MULTIGAMES -S Games «8k
I have a tax One tax One
Other I Plea** weedy .
PCS JUNE30-JULY6. 1983
FCNProgramCards
We start with the second half of John Waters' Video Titler program for the TI 99/4A . In fact this program has found more than one user in our office for a home video library.
At last, all you Atarians — we finish off Philip Green's adventure game. Pirate Island. You were left last week cither drowning in a whirlpool or dying on your own sword.
Can you escape? Will this be the end of our hero? Only you can supply the answers, so carry on programming. . .
To bring a little sanity back to the proceedings, we are starting a program from James Bridson. of Bamslcv. for the BBC Model B
At just 70p, for two weeks’ worth of PCN, this has got to be the cheapest, most readily available word processing package .
This is quite a sizeable program and therefore disk users should either use the Mover routine (PCS’, issue 1 5. ref 83 1 5M ) to recapture the disk workspace, or set PAGE = &E00 (3584) then use tape for storage.
However, this small drawback is easily offset by the features available.
These include the ability to open and close text, load and save files, plus an advanced feature allowing right justifica¬ tion of blocks of text.
Automatic word-wrap is also included, as is a printer interface for the AP100A. Users of other printers will probably find no problem with this, but should you use a printer offering more than 80 characters, you must adjust the relevant code accor¬ dingly.
A RUN for our money
We pay for published programs, so why not give us a RUN for our money?
Contributions should be sent on disk or cassette, with a plain paper listing and brief notes to:
Programs Editor. Personal Computer Newt. VNU. Evelyn House. 62 Oxford Street. London W1A 2HG.
All disks and cassettes will be returned, at our expense, after consideration or publication .
For those of you who might have a sneaking feeling that we're ignoring your micro, here is a breakdown of the machines we've covered in our first 16 issues.
If your micro doesn't feature at all. or is trailing at the bottom of the chart, you’ve only yourself to blame. We can only publish what you send us.
Vic owners who might be feeling hard done by should also note that CBM programs can easily be converted to run on their machines.
In addition to the machines below, we have also run a total of ten programs and sub-routines in Microsoft Basic which should run with minimal alterations on any micro (except for those Forth fanatics who have bought Jupiter Aces).
PROGRAM TALLY
Spectrum
BBC
Dragon
Commodore 64
Oriel
CBM
Atari 4410 800
Apple Vic 20 MZ80K Lynx 7X81
Colour Genie TI99/4A
FCNProgramCards Video Titler Card4of6
TI99/4ATI Extended Basic/ John Waterw continued
600 IF M>=0 THEN 630 ELSE 610 610 IF F=68 THEN 630 ELSE 620 620 DISPLAY AT <22» 1) : "NO. OF SPAC ES BETWEEN ROWS:" :: ACCEPT AT <2 2 , 27) V AL I DATE CD I G I T> BEEP : M 630 R <A> =A :: GOTO 650 640 DISPLAY AT C22< 1) : "ROW NO. Cl- 24):“ :: ACCEPT AT C22, 16) VALIDAT E CD I G I T) S I ZE <3) BEEP : R < A)
650 DISPLAY AT <23, 1) : "TITLE LINE ACCEPT AT C24 , 1 ) BEEP : LL$ <A
>
660 CALL TPRINTCLlSCA) ,RCA) ,TC,T B)
670 NEXT A
680 IF T=83 THEN 690 ELSE 710 690 DISPLAY AT <21 , 1) s "TITLE COMP LETE. ENTER TIME REQUIRED CSECON DS) FOR SCREEND I SPLAY. TITLE WILL
RE-APPEARFOR VIDEO RECORDING:" 700 ACCEPT AT <24 1 24) VAL I DATE <D I G IT) BEEP: p
710 IF <F>=68)*CF<=72)THEN 800 E LEE 730
720 REM TITLE PRODUCTION 730 CALL CLEAR :: GOSUB 1020 740 FOR B=1 TO L
750 CALL PRINT CLL$ CB) , R CB) , TC, TB
)
760 NEXT B
770 PD=P*250 :: FOR N=1 TO PD ::
NEXT N :: GOSUB 1080 780 IF K=82 THEN 730 ELSE 790 790 IF K=78 THEN 350 ELSE 1000 800 DISPLAY AT <21,1): "TITLE COMP OSED AS ABOVE. IF CORRECT ENTER Y FOR ROLLING TITLES - IF NOT EN TER N FOR RE-START: "
600-650 Requests lor title spacing and title 660-770 Displays title or screen Requests length ol time tor display ol static titles Displays static titles 780-800 Prompt for correctness Of
composed titles
‘WORK STATION’
mu
£39 95
DE LUXE VDU OPERATORS CHAIR
FULLY ADJUSTABLE SEAT. FULLY ADJUSTABLE SPRUNG BACK AND UPHOLSTERED IN RICH BEIGE TWEED COFFEE FRAME. TWIN WHEEL CASTORS OPTIONAL SUPPLIED K D , ASSEMBLED IN SECONDS.
Video 1 : Seal height 410 560mm on glides Video 2: Seal height 450 600mm on castors
£29 95
PROFESSIONAL WORK STATION WITH COFFEE FRAME TEAK MELAMINE ( ^“UU. 1 WORKTOP AND COURTESY PANEL AND CASTORS FITS ALL LEADING MICROS I SCHEME Model A: 610mm deep. 1010mm wide. 695mm high 1 Supplied K D Y AVAILABLE! J
Model B: As above + 305mm ■ 1 01 Omm upsland f Assembled in minutes y y
To: WORK STATION , FREEPOST. PROSPECT MILL, HINDLE STREET. DARWEN. LANCS. Tel: 0254 775727 Please send me:
u Model A (a £39.95 + £4.95 p&p
□ Model B (a £49.95 + £4.95 p&p
□ Video 1 (u £29.95 + £3.95 p&p
□ Video 2 (u £32.95 + £3.95 p&p Please allow 14 days lor delivery
I enclose cheque postal order payable to:
WORK STATION’ for £ _
Or: please charge my Access account no.
i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i
Become a keyboard virtuoso 1 in just 24 hours
CN JUNE .10-JULY 6. IVK.1
PCNProgramCards Video Titler Card 5 of 6
810 ACCEPT AT (24,24) VALIDATE ("YN "> BEEPS R$
820 W=ASC (R$)
830 IF W= 89 THEN 340 ELSE 560
840 IF F=68 THEN 930 ELSE 850
850 CALL CLEAR :: GDSUB 1020 860 FOR C=1 TO L 870 R (C) =23
880 CALL HPRINT(LLS(C),R(C),TC,T B>
890 FOR Q=M TO ( STEP -1 900 PRINT :: NEX Q :: NEXT C :: GDSUB 1070
910 IF K=82 THEN 850 ELSE 920
920 IF K=78 THEN 360 ELSE 1000
930 CALL CLEAR a GOSUB 1020 940 FOR E=1 TO L 950 R (E) =£3
960 CALL DPRINT(Ll.S(E) ,R(E) ,TC,T
970 NEXT E :: GOSUB 1070 980 IF K=82 THEN 930 ELSE 990 990 IF K=78 THEN 350 ELSE 1000 1000 END
1010 REM TIME DELAY
1020 FOR T=1 TO 1250 :: NEXT T :
: RETURN
1030 FOR C=1 TO 14 STEP 1 :: CAL L COLOR (C»TC»TB) : : NEXT C s : RET URN
1040 REM DISPLAY COLOR 1050 CALL SCREEN (5):: FOR C=1 TO 14 STEP 1 :: CALL COLOR (C» 16, 1> :: NEXT C :: RETURN 1060 REM SUB DISPLAY 1070 FOR T=1 TO 2000 :: NEXT T 1080 CALL SOUND <1 00* 440* 2) : : CAL L SDUND(100,330,£)
810-840 Was it corrector not’
850 Clear screen Perform delay loop to
turn on VCR to record
860-900 Routine to display, with time delay .
horizontal titles
910-1000 Routine to display diagonal titles
1010-1020 Time delay routine 1030 Set up selected colours for display
1040-1050 Set up colours for information display
1060-1080 Part of routine to repeat displays
PCNProgramCards VideoTitler Card 6 of 6
1090 PRINT "PRESS E TD EXIT, R T
□ REPEAT DR N FOR NEW TITLES :
1100 CALL KEY (0, K, S) : : IF S=0 TH
EN 1100
1110 RETURN
1120 REM STATIC PRINT
1130 SUB PRINT (LLS, R,TC,TB)
1140 V=16-INT(LEN<LLS)/2)
1150 FOR 1 = 1 TO LEN (LLS)
1160 CD=ASC <SEG$ <LL$» I » 1 ) >
1170 CALL HCHAR (R» V+I , CD)
1180 NEXT I :: SUBEND
1190 REM TITLE PRINT
1200 SUB TPRINT (LLS, R, TC» TB)
1210 V=16-INT (LEN (LL$) /£) : : CALL CHAR (128, "0000001818"):: FOR 1= 1 TO LEN (LLS) : : CALL COLOR (13, 2, 16) :: CALL HCHAR <R, V+I , 128)
1220 FOR C=1 TO 14 STEP 1 :: CAL
L COLOR <C, TC, TB) : : NEXT C 1230 CD=ASC (SEG8 (LLS, 1 , 1) )
1240 CALL HCHAR <R, V+I, CD)
1250 CALL SOUND (20, -3, 0)
1260 NEXT I : : SUBEND 1280 SUB HPRINT (LLS,R, TC, TB) 1290 V=16-INT<LEN(LL$)/2)
1300 FOR 1 = 1 TO LEN (LLS)
1310 CD=ASC (SEGS (LLS, 1,1))
1320 CALL HCHAR (R, V+I, CD)
1330 NEXT I :: SUBEND 1350 SUB DPR I NT (LLS, R, TC, TB) 1360 FOR K=G TO 0 1370 V= 1 6- I NT (LEN (LLS) /2)
1380 FOR 1 = 1 TO LEN (LLS)
1390 CD=ASC (SEGS (LLS, 1,1))
1400 CALL HCHAR (R, V+I, CD)
1410 PRINT :: NEXT I :: NEXT K : SUBEND
1090-1110 Final part of repeat display routine 1120-1180 Routine to display static titles 1190-1260 Routine to display titles during composition
1270-1330 Routine to display horizontal titles 1360-1410 Routine to display diagonal titles
Anewstarisborn
pulsar
16 BIT BUSINESS SOFTWARE
PULSAR business software is the creation of ACT - the company behind the Sirius I and recognised leader in 16-bit personal computing.
The new PULSAR range, developed by ACT at a cost in excess of £1 million, takes full advantage of the power and expandability of 16-bit computers.
It Is inherently faster and more powerful than traditional 8-bit software.
And it is a true 16-bit range, designed and developed by ACT 'S own software engineers PULSAR offers more of all the key requirements in business software:
MORE PORTABILITY Written thoughout in machine-independent portable languages to protea your software investment.
LONGER PEDIGREE ACT has more than 1 7 years experience in developing business software. Thousands of companies throughout the world use ACT packages.
GREATER INTEGRATION All the PULSAR packages are designed to share information, avoiding duplication of files and eliminating re-entering of data.
MORE USER-FRIENDLY ACT'S unique UFO (user-friendly origination) routines allow even the inexperienced
BETTER TRAINING Two training centres, in London and Birmingham are open to all PULSAR users. MORE SUPPORT
A "hot line” telephone support scheme to instantly resolve any operating queries PULSAR SOFTWARE CENTERS Only PULSAR is available through the unique network of PULSAR Software Centers. These are hand-picked computer dealers who handle a range of personal computers but who specialise purely in PULSAR to meet all business needs.
THE PULSAR RANGE
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Informer Database £295 |
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Micromtxteller |
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SuperCalC" |
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AVAILABLE NOW FOR SIRIUS - IBM PC and DEC Rainbow coming soon.
user to quickly and easily configure a PULSAR system to precise requirements.
For more information on the new PULSAR Range clip the coupon and return to
ACT (Pulsar) Ltd
FREEPOST.
Birmingham BI6 IBR or call
021-454 8585
" indicates registered trade mark Ownership details on request. ALL prices exclude VAT
|
Please send |
1 |
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f |
me further details of the new PULSAR Range* fame |
1 |
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wition |
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i Cor |
npany |
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U |
Idress |
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L |
J |
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& |
Tel |
A |
QUEST
SIMPLY THE BEST
FOR ANY SPECTRUM
THE BEST y+g
l' H0LE
THE SCENE: Allen spacecraft are using hyperspace drive to enter our universe through a black hole. Their intent Is destruction.
YOUR MISSION: To uphold the defence of your universe as
long as possible while Inflicting the maximum damage on alien forces.
YOUR WEAPONS: Positive and Negative Ion Guns are deadly at any range but the Ion stream Is bent by the massive gravitational field of the black hole. The Neutron Blaster Is equally deadly but has only limited range.
YOUR BATTLE: You are under constant aback from the alien force which pits fiendish offence craft against you In ever Increasing Intensity In deadlier and deadlier form.
How long can your fleet of ships survive? How many enemy craft can you destroy?
100% super efficient machine code allows all this action to be packed In to run on the 16K |or 48K) Spectrum. Superb animation, high resolution graphics. Incredible explosive and full sound effects combine to make Black Hole set a new standard In Spectrum software.
Also features a special learning mode to help develop your skills.
Embedded In the software Is our unique score valkllfler which enables us to Introduce a new dimension to computer games. The top ten scorers In each calendar month from April through September will receive alma Black Hole addict T-shirt and the chance to compete for prizes to the value of £500 In a championship to be held at the end of the year. We will then publish a list of the top 1000 scorers so you can find out Just how good you are.
HOW GOOD ARE YOU? Take up the BLACK HOLE challenge NOW and find out.
Send £5.50 to QUEST, 1 19 THE PROMENADE, CHELTENHAM, GLOS GL50 1NW to receive your copy of "BLACK HOLE" by return first class post together with a membership number entitling you to discount on our forthcoming blockbusting
Tirade enquiries welcome A NEW DIMENSION excellent terms available IN SPECTRUM SOFTWARE
PCNProgramCards Pirate Island Card 8 of 9
r 8317PI89
L
Atari Atari Basic Philip Green continued
i860 7 -after a MEET and a oav vou land on Hamah island- 1860-2130 Sett explanatory
1065 7
1870 7 -MHOS FOR ASHORE THEN"
1875 '
1B8U ' "l.GO ASHORE" 5! INPUT DD
1BTO IF DD-I THEN "■ - } - > ’ "You «( on a lunn y beach, V1SIBLI ITEMStSiqn u.ing mu ' ‘i I row to •IAMAI1. Sleeping pirata"
18*75 7
1900 PRINT "I.NATt PIRATE"! 1 INPUT EE
I9|.< IF EE-1 THEN - -J-I- -RIRAIt utK'H IS AND SAYS AY MATEY COULD 1 HAVE ML SHOVE I <
L BACI "
1915 ^
1920 PRINT ' I . GIVE SHOVEL" I i INPUT Fr
1 950 IF FF-1 THEN ’ " I " : ^ PIRATE GRABS SHOVEL AND DROP'S A GOLDEN CHAIN, ITS A T REASURE "
1935 ^
1 940 PRINT "I.TAIE GOLDEN CHAIN" I : I NTUT GO
1950 IF GO”! TMLN ' ■:■'!' "GREAT1 YOU HAVE FOUND THE THIRD AND T INAL TREASURE. fr,
BUT NOW YOU HAVE TO GE I BACK -*7777*
1955 PRINT "1.60 EAST- 1960 PRINT "2.00 SOUTH"! S INPUT MH I971} IT HH-1 I HEN ' "I"! GOTO 2060 1980 IT HTT-2 THEN 7 -;-,GOTO 2000 I99>. GOTO 194,0
7 -Y0U Joy, WRONG TURN AND FELEINTO A SNAT E PIT"
2010 FOR 1*1 TO SO: NEK T I 2020 7 -vou ARE BEAD"
2025 7
7030 7 "HIT Y FOR ANOTHER TURN" ! I INPUT Y4 2040 IF Y*-">" THEN 5 2050 GOTO 2030
2060 "YOU are in a 1 agoon. V! s IDLE I TEIiS i Dar ! pit. beawawd"
2065 7
2070 PRINT "I. EXAMINE SEAMEED"
2000' PRINT "2. GO PIT“U INPUT II 2090 IF 11*1 THEN 7 - ) " j GOTO 2120 2100 IF 11*2 THLN 7 "j-sGQTO 2140 21 1" GOTO 2070
2120 7 -YOU SEE NOTHING SPECIAL"
2125 7
2130 B010 2070
f PCNProgramCards
j Pirate Island Card 9 of 9
8317PI9 9
2140 7 -YOU ABE FALLING DOWN A VERY DEEP PIT, I THINt YOU'RE A GONER" 2140-2280 Self explanatory
2150 FOR I-l TO I lOOlNEXT ir “I*
2160 7 “ROY WAS YOU IUCTY.YOU HAVE LANDED ON A OLD MATTRESS IN A DART ROOM"
2170 FOR 1*1 TO 700: NEXT 1:7 ->"
2IB<> 7 "You are :n a vary dar I rooa, VISIBLE I TENS: Pane 1 1 oT light ihining Tro« t ha bottcw o< a door*
2185 7
2190 PRINT " 1 . OPEN DOOR "I I ITtfUT JJ
2200 IF JJ-1 THIN * -you are bac» in the corridor."
2205 7
2210 7 -V1S1BI.I (ILMSlTwo door* one with a »ign on It saying NO ENTRY. which you ■ have ju*t com out of . *
2213 7
2220 7 -And another door right in Iron! o* you, with a algn on it aaying STORE TR .-j EASURES IN HERE."
2225 7
2230 7 * J . OPEN DOOR"! I INF'UT IF
224-. IF TT-1 THEN 7 -j",-* -y0u are bacT in the room whar a you started. "
2245 7
2250 7 “VISIBLE I TENS : Mar a glowing Tire, large r ug . -v I eep i ng pirata sat in arachai >jM
2260 7 " I . MAT E PIRATE-Il INPUT LL
2270 IF LL-I THEN 7 "PIRATE AWAF ES AND SAYS AY MATEY LAY YOUR TREASURES DO
MN MERE"
2275 ?
2280 ? " 1 . DROP TREASURES- I : INPUT MN 2290 IF NM-l THEN ' *>■:? -GREAT 111 ■"
2293 7
2300 7 -YOU HAVE FINISHED THIS ADVENTURE"
2303 7
2310 ? "THANT YOU FOR PLAYING- 2333 7
2340 7 -HIT Y FOR ANOTHER TURN" 1 1 2330 IF YB--Y" THEN 3 2400 GOTO 2340 3000 END
2290-3000 Well done1 You V8 survived to the end
INPUT
I7IICR0SPHERE
MICROSPHERE COMPUTER SERVICES LTD 72 ROSEBERY ROAD LOHDOH HIO 2LA TELEPHOHE 01-883 941 1
EVOLUTION |48K SpWCIfumi a Balanced world and Durvivirtg the odd dnasler a* you go ’
ZX SIDEPRINT iSpectrum & ZX81 versions)
Use ZX Sidepr.nl to print sideways diving you 80/1 32 elc characters per line (State version read) «4 »S
CREVASSE A HOTFOOT lany Spectrum)
Can you make it across the ice cap whilst chasms open and close all around'' Or help the raOW get to helds lull ol carrots - but remember* the plumper the rabbit, the greater the danger
2 original games lor only C4.S5
:k layouts on each cassette Superb value lor money
BBC COMPUTERS
★ OFFICIAL ACORN BBC COMPUTER DEALER ★
HARDWARE
BBC Model BtW
BBC Model A with32K/v ta £344
BBC Mtsdcl A ( just a few left I £299
Tcac slim profile compatible
disc drive — with cables £205
Plus Monitors — Printers — Connectors etc, etc
Topquahty authorised A B upgrade kits £65
SOFTWARE
Monsters — Rocket Raid — Snapper — Meteors Planetoid — Super I nvaders — Creative Graphics and Earlv Learning — all £9.95 each Arcade Action £1 1 .90 Killer Gorilla £7 .95
BOOKS (BBC MICRO)
Assembly Language Programming ( Birnbaum ) £8.95 Games BBC Computers Plav £6.95 Creative Graphics I took £7.5(1 Forth Book £7.50( Tape £l6.85cxtra)
All above items in stock at Publication Date. Same day despatch — However, due todemand for all BBC related products, we suggest you telephone first . and we will r«mr your order.
VAT — We have to pa v it . so our prices include it . Simpls add £ I per order for postage. £9 per computer for Securicor delivers .
• 1-ongS.A.K. for full list enquiries.
CARDIGAN ELECTRONICS
CHANCERY LANE. CARDIGAN. DYFED. W. WALES
TEL 0239 61 4483
PHONE FROM 10AM TO SPM MON-SAT
CLOSEO ALL DAY WEDNESDAY _
Dragon Caves. A 3-dimensional trip through a maze ol over 1 .000 chambers Hidden deep in Dragon Caves is the Magic Amulet stolen from you by the Dargons slaves This Amulet must be found and removed from the Caves together with any other treasures that you may discover In the maze there are several creatures, some of whom you must kill and others who will help you— if they feel like it The only exit from the Caves is patrolled by a fearsome Dragon who you must defeat to escape with the Amulet Superb 3-D graphics and realistic monsters make this a must for all owners of Sharp machines Price £9.95.
51 Broad Si Worcester WR1 3LR Telephone (0905) 26524
NEW COLOUR CATALOGUE
continued next week
The PCW Show is Britain’s most popular micro event. Hardly sur¬ prising, with over 200 exhibitors showing an exciting range of micros, software and peripherals — for business and commerce, education, science, industry and the home.
But if you use a micro at work
(or are thinking of buying one) you can avoid the crush. Just clip the coupon below and send ith with your business card and a cheque for £2.00 (normal price £3 at the door!). We’ll send you a special “Fast Lane” ticket. And you won’t have to play the wait¬ ing game.
Computer
_,Xworid A
Show^^H
THE FAST LANE
Plese send me one “Fast Lane" ticket to the 6th PCW Show.
I enclose my business card and a cheque for E2.00 made payable to the “Personal Computer World Show”.
NAME .
ADDRESS .
Send to Amanda Stephens PCW Show. 1 1 Manchester Square London W1 M 5AB
DON'T JUST STAND THERE
USE THE FAST LAW
28th September-2nd October Barbican Centre, City of London
Mi
PCN JUNE 23-JUNE 29.1983
PCN ProgramCards
Word Processor Card 3 of 9
730DEF F-KUCr i qht 740xX - kX*1
7301F x X-B0 THEN *X-Ol yX»yX*l
7001F yX-24 THEN yX-23l IF pX< 14368 THEN pX-pX*B0s
730-770 Procedure 10 move cursor right checking screen scroll, illegal move etc
790DEF PftOCup
OOWyX - yX-I
BI0IF yX- 1 THEN yX-©«
B20ENDPNOC
890DEF FNy*»c veocococ dX 9I0REPEA1 920dX-GET 930UNTIL CdX-
990p«*»X-| teeeeEPEAT I010REPEAT IO?«VDu;i , xX, yX 1O30*IX-GET
li»4o IF • IX- 136 THEN PftOCl*«t 105O1F *IX-137 THEN PKOCright 1 060 1 F a 1 X- 1 38 THEN PHOCdown 10701F a 1 X- 1 39 THEN PBOCup
790-820 As above but cursor up
840-870 As above but cursor down
960- 1120 First part ol procedure to
perform right justification and proportional spacing tor a block of text
PCN ProgramCards ' Word Processor Card 4 of 9
8317WP4 9
U30IF llrttlnX u 1 140NEPEAT I150C1X-0
1160F0R alX-O TO 7
12206 1X-BO I230TCEPEAT 1 2406 1 X-6 1 X- 1 12S0UNTIU ?<61X*fir l260l*»tchrX-61X«<. l270g«p*X-0i tpjcx 12B0C IX—01 rigX-0 1 290REPEA T
I320IF 7 < ♦ ir»tchrX*c IXI < >32 AND <flgX-TRUE) 1
1330UNTIL <rarstchrXFclXI-<nr»tlnX*79l
I 340* IX- 1 6**88! FOB ClX-0 TO 79| 7<*lX*ClX)-3;
I3S0IF gapaX-0 THEN 1540
l360r»m*ind«rX-*p*CMXI400 gap«X
1 3706 I X*spac wmXD I V g*p*X
1380* IX- 10307
1390REPEAT
1400REPEAT
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CLUBNET
('luhnet keeps >ou in touch with the microcosm of personal computer enthusiasts throughout the I'K. It is divided into two sections — clubs and user groups.
We publish a list or these two groups on alternate weeks. This week it is the turn or user groups, w hich are listed alphabetical!) by machine and special interest.
Kach issue will also focus on the activities of an indiv idual club or
group with a fly-on-the-wall report. This week we feature the Colchester Sinclair I ser Croup.
If your association has something special on the agenda or if you've just started a new one. contact us at Clubnel, Personal Computer News, VNU, 62 Oxford Street. London W1A 2HS.
The user groups listing is based on that of the Amateur Computer Club.
Colchester coders
It was a busy evening for members at the Colchester Sinclair User Group with several events on the agenda.
More than 20 members packed into Straight Road Centre for the regular get-together, laden with their Spcctrums. ZX8 Is. TVs and cassettes for some Sinclair action.
The club started three months ago under the supervision of Richard Lown. He told me: ‘I was teaching some teachers about micros on a teacher training course, and after it finished some of the people on the course and myself decided to start a computer club.
We have 37 members on our books — a mixture of young and old with different capabilities. The club is run on an informal basis — but there's usually a talk.'
ESP. a local software and hardware retailer from Southend-on-Sea dropped in to show its wares. The kids swarmed around the table to see demonstrations on
the latest zap and blast games and to look at add-ons for sale.
The directors of ESP. Mike Fov and David Baker, are the authors of a version of The I fitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy translated for the Spectrum.
In another comer of the room Richard Lown demonstrated a word processing package on his ZX81. By using a Centro¬ nics interface he w as able to show members the ZXKI’s capabilities in writing letters and printing labels.
Halfway through the evening the more
Mike Fay and David Baker at ESP chat to chib
members about software packages.
Richard Lown demonstrates a word processing package on WsZXSl.
experienced members shifted to an ajoin- ing room for a talk on machine coding. Don C ruickshank explained to fellow-members the concepts involved, relating it to a 2180 processor His talk was the third in a series planned to run for several months.
Noim Colchester Sinclair User Group Vowuo Straight Road Centre. Colchester Mootings: Every fortnight Contact: Richard Lown. 102 Prcttygatc Road ( okfcRW. Essex.
USER GROUPS
Acorn
Coventry Acorn Atom User Group Subs: £4. No meetings but quarterly newsletter Contact Peter Frost. 18 Frankwcll Drive. Coventry. 0203 61313b.
Kent Medway Acorn User Group Meets at St John Fisher School on last Monday ol month at 7pm Session at 9pm Thursday at the Fos and Hound. Chatham. Contact Clem Rutlcr . c/o St John's Fisher School. Ordancc Street. Chatham. Kent. 0634 4281 1 (day). 0634 373459 (eve).
Mane better Acorn User Group Meets at AMC. Crescent Road. Crupsall. Manchester 8 on Tuesday except school holidays, fees: £1 . Contact John Ashursl . 192 Vcndurc Close. Faibworth. Manchester. 061-681 4962.
0 Waring House. Rcdcliffc Hill. Bristol BSI 6|'B. once a month Newsletter Contact Ewa Dabkowski. do Dalahnk. 10 Wanng House. Rcdcliffc Hill. Bristol BSI 6TB. 0272 213427.
Miltsa Keynet Microcomputer User Group Meets every Tuesday. 7.30pm. Contact Brian Pam. Sir Frank Markham School, Woughton Centre. Chaffron Way. Milton Keynes.
Malaga G Bull Ring shopping centre. Birmingham, on second and fourth Thursday every month at 7 30pm Subs: £5 Meetings: 25p members. 50p non members Contact Mike Aston. 42 Short Street. Wcdnesbury. West
Contact Steve Profilt. The Granary. Hill Farm Road. Marlow Bottom. Buckinghamshire. 062 84 73074. Croyd— Apple User Group Meets at Sidda House. 350 Lower Addiscomhc Road. Croydon, on second Monday ol month Subs: £5. £10 commercial members. Contact Paul Vernon. *0 Flawkhursl Way. West Wickham. Kent, 01-777 5478
_ i Atari User Club Contact
Paul Dccgan on 01-642 5232.
HuR Atari Users Local Group. Proposed new user group. Contact Harvey Kong Til. 546 Holdcrncss Road. Hull HU93ES. Hull 7911094 London Silica Atari 400800 User Club New dub. library planned, newsletter. Contact Richard Hawes on 01-301 1111.
Norwich Atari User Group Contact Ken Ward, tel: Norwich. 661 149 Preston Atari Computer Enthusiasts Meets at KSC Club. Mcrrion House. Beach Grove. Ashton. Preston, on third Thursday of month at 7.30pm. Subs £5. Contact Roger Taylor. 0253 738192.
Usurp— < BBC and Atom User Group Meets at Old Swan Technical College. Room C33 on first Wednesday of month at 7.30pm and at Birkenhead Technical College on third Thursday of month at 7 30pm Contact Nick Kelts . 051-525 29.34 (evenings)
User Group. Meets at Old School. Branch Road. Pari Street. St Albans. Hertfordshire, on first Tuesday and third Sunday each month Annual subs: £12.50. joining fee: £2.50 Publishes - — Contact John Sharp. 09273
75$t'"C (
la-stag o .m international user group for the BBC micro Produce monlhly magazine Subs: £12 for one year. £6 for six months. Contact Paul Bar hour. 10 Dawlcy Ride. Colnbrook. Slough. Berks. 02812 30614
Bssbug. I en magazines with programs. Discount deals, library and query service Contact Sheridan W illiams or David Graham at PO Box 50, St Albans. Hertfordshire ALI 2AR.
Bown—mouth BBC User Group Meets at Lansdowne Computer Centre. 5 lloldcnhurst Road. Bournemouth on first and fourth Wednesday of month at 7.30pm. Contact Norman Carey on 0202 749612.
Brent Barnet User Group Meets on last Sunday of month Subs £3 Newsletter Contact Joseph Fox. 4 Harman Close. London NWi 2EA
North London BBC Micro Users Group Meets at The Prince of Wales. 37 Fortune Green Road, on Tucs 7pm Wide range of skills and expertise Contact Df Leo McLaughlin. Department of Chemistry. Westfield College. University of London. KidJerporc Avenue. London NW3 7ST. 01-435 0109.
Preston Ana BBC Micro User Group Meets al Boatmans Arms. Marsh lane. Preston, on last Thursday of month Subs: £5 Contact Duncan Couhcr. Membership Secretary. 8 Briar Grove. Ingot. Preston. Lancashire. 0772 725793.
Witham (NAMEBUG) BBC Micro User Group meets al comprehensive school. Witham on second Thursday each month al 7.30pm Contact Dave W atts after 7pm. 0245 358127 Comal
London Comal User Group. Meets at Polytechnic of North London.
Holloway . second Wednesday of month, term time Subs: £7.50. Contact John Collins. 75 741 II.
£n-Uy-vX!<L7,Sl Contact Bob Wool. 13 Ward Green. Barnsley. South Yorkshire. 0226 85084 Blackpool. Meets at Arnold School. Blackpool, on third Thursday of month Contact David Jarrctt. 197 'Victoria Road. Thornton Clcvclcys. Blackpool FY5 3ST Canterbury St Meets al The Physics Lab. Canterbury University, on first Tuesday and Wednesday ol month Subs: £7 adults. £3.50 juniors. Contact R Moselcv . Roscmount. Romney Hill. Maidstone, 0622 37643 Carriekfergus. ( ootact David Bolton, 19 Carrickburn Road. Carriekfergus. Antrim BT38 7ND. 09603 63788
l Meets at The Cheltenham Ladies College on last Thursday of month at 7.30. Contact Alison Schofield. 78 Hesters Way Road. Cheltenham. Gloucester. 0242 580789. Chayd. Contact John Poole . 6 Ridgway Close. Connah's Ouay. Clwyd CH5 4LZ
Corky. Contact Peter Ashby. 215 Wincohn Way. Corby. Northamptonshire . 05363 4442 Cos—try. Meets at Stoke Park School and County College al 7pm on fourth Wednesday of month except July. August. December. Subs: £2.50. Contact Will light. 22 Ivybndge Road. Stvycchalc. Coventry Warwickshire. Oorhy. Meets at Derby Professional Colour every other Tuesday al 7pm. Contact Robert Watts. 03322 72569 Durham. North-East Pet and ICPUG Meets at Lawson School. Burnley at 7pm second and third Mondays ot month Contact Jim Cocallis. 20 Worcester Road. Newton Hall Estate. Durham.
Centre. Woodman Path. Hamault Contact Carol Taylor. 10) Courtlands Avenue. Cranbrriok, lltord. Essex. Glasgow. I • intact Dr Jim MacBraync. 27 Daidmyrc Crescent. Newton Mcams Glasgow, 041-6395696. Gloucester and Bristol Azoa. Meets at 23 Sheppard Lcaze. Wollon-undci-Edgc. Gloucester, on last Fnday of month HampoMn. Meets at 70 Reading Road. Famborough. on third Wednesday of month Contact Ron Gccre. 109 York Road. Famhorough. Hants. 0252 542921.
Hertford shire North. Meets at Provident Mutual Assurance. Purwcll Lane, liilchin. on last Wednesday of month Contact B Grainger. 73 Mincbcad Wa^Slcvcnagc. Herts SGI 2HS.0438
Kilmarnock. Meets at Symington Primary School on first and third Thursdays of month al 7pm. Software library. Contact John Smith. 19 Brcwfands Road. Symington, Kilmarnock KA1 5RW.0563 830407
PC'S JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
REPRINT
SERVICE
If you are interested in a particular article or advertisement in Personal Computer News, you might like to take advantage of our special Reprint Service. Let our high quality reprints provide an attractive and impressive addition to your portfolio of promotional material.
For further details and a quotation, give us a call today.
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PERSONAL COMPUTER NEWS
For immediate coverage of your market phone the PCN AdvertisingTeam on 01-323 3211 and be seen with the best!
70
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
CLUBNET
Jupiter Ace
Jupiter Ace Users Group. Subs: £7. Newsletter, add-ons Contact John Noyce. Rcmsolt, IN George Street. Brighton BN’ IRH
Proposed group to „ w competitions Contact Warrington 62215 after 4pm
Computer Society. Chcvclcy Park Medical Centre. Belmont. Durham. 0385 64282
Louden. Medical Micro Users Group Newsletter Contact Mcdicom. 1-2 Hanover Street. London Wl Middlesex. I KS-HO Medical and Laboratory Users Newsletter Contact Dr Robinson. The Residency. Northwick Park Hospital. Harrow. Middlesex
. Nascom Thames Valiev User Group. Meets at Frogmorc Hotel, Windsor, on Thursday forthnightlv. 8pm Newsletter Contact Mike Rothcry. 37 Eaton Wick Road. Eton Wick. Windsor. Berkshire. Windsor 56100
Bimdngtiam Nascom User Group. Meets ai Davenports Social Oub. Granville Street. Birmingham on the last Thursday of month. 8pm Contact Martin Sidchotham. 021-744 3093
b. Subs
_ mer.pfofi
library Contact 80 Oakfield Corner. Sycamore Road. Amcrsham. Buckinghamshire HPb 5EQ
Merseyside Nascom User Croup. Meets at Mona Hotel. St James Street. Liverpool, on the first Wednesday of month. 7.30pm Contact Mr T Scark. 051-526 5256
Wakefield Independent Ncwbrain User Group. Contact Anlhonv Hodge. 15 St John's Court. Wakefield' WFI 2RY
Ohio
Ohio Scientific User Group. Subs: £5
Newsletter. Contact Tom Graves. 19a West End, Street . Somerset. (W58 45359.
Orta
Ortc Owners Group. Subs: f 10
Communicates through bi-monthly new-slettcr. Contact Paul Kaufman. 3 Club Mews. Ely. Cambridgeshire
_ g. Contact Richard
Elen. 12 Bcnnerlcv Road. London SW116DS.
_ . Subs: £9 Contact Nick Hughes. PO Box 52. Pinner. Middlesex HA5 3FE
Newsletter Contact Nigel Dunn. 21 Campion Road. Widmcr End. High Wycombe. Buckinghamshire. IM94 714483
Hertferdshiro PDPI1 User Group Information service only Contact Pete Harris. 1 19 Carpenter Wav. Potters Bar. Hertfordshire EN6 50B. 0707 52091
_ _ Contact Alec
Wood. Wirral Grammar School for Boys. Cross Lane. Bebington, Wirral. Merseyside LG3 3AO
Administrates Club Spot 800 (hobbyists on Prcstcl) Contact secretary. Rupert Steele. St John's College. Oxford OX1 3JP
Hill Teachers Centre. Stratford Road. Birmingham Bll IAR Leamington Spa. West Midland RML User Group Contact Spencer Instonc. c/o 59 Asenuc Road. Leamington Spa. Nawcaitte. NERML 380Z User Group Meets monthly at Micro- Elcctncomcs Education Centre of the Polytechnic Coach Lane Campus. Subs: 15.
Contact Mr Hatfield or Mr Rccd. Computer Unit. Northumberland Building. Newcastle Polytechnic 0632 IMMI
Oxford. Research Machines National User Group Contact RML. Mill Street. Osncy. Oxford OX2 0BW. 0865
Oxford. Research Machines Ltd National User Group. Contact M D Fisher. PO Box 75. Oxford OX4 1EY.
_ j. lntcmalion.il Sharp Users
Group. Subs: £3. Newsletter Contact Graham Knight, oo Knights Computers. 108 Rosscmount Place. Aberdeen. 0224 630526.
EaML Sharp MZ8UK Uset Group Contact Joe Street. 16 Elmhurst Drive. Hornchurch. Essex RM 1 1 I PE Lamb. Sharp PC121 1 Users' Chib.
Subs: £5 Newsletter Contact Jonathan Dakcync. 281 Lidgctt Lane. Leeds LSI7 3AQ.
SomarsaC Sharp MZ80 Users Club Contact Tim Powell. Computer Centre. Yeovil College. Yeovil. Somerset BA21 4AE.
Brighten. 7.X Users Group Contact J Ireland Hill Jnr. 145 Godwin Road. Hove. Brighton
Ayteahuiy. Sinclair ZX Computer Club General monthly meeting, newsletter. Equipment for hire . specialist meetings, library Contact secretary . Ken Knight. 0246 5181 C«k better. Sinclair User Group Meets forthnightly. Contact Richard Lawn. 102 Prettygalc Road. Colchester.
Essex.
Cardiff. ZX Club Meets on last Sunday of month. 2pm. Subs: £5. Telephone service, software library Contact Mike Hayes. 54 Oakley Place. Grangetown. Cardiff. 0222 371732.
Edinburgh. ZX Mccty at Claremont Hotel. Claremont Crescent. Edinburgh on tecond and fourth Wednesdays every month. 7 30pm Subs: £5 adults £3 juniors, students. OAP and unemployed Newsletter Contact John Palmer. 56 Meadow field Drive. Edinburgh. 031 -661 3183.
®— gunZXNilNI User Group. Contact Ian Watt. 10 Green wood Road, dark slon , Glasgow. IMI-638 1241 Urorgad. ZX Computer Club Meets at ZX Computer Centre. 17Swccling Street. Liverpool, on Wednesday . 6.30pm Contact Keith Archer. 651-260 . 495fL
London. National ZX User Chib Monthly magazine 'Interface' Contact Tim Hartnell. Interface. 44-48 Earls Court, London W8.
London. Sinclair User Group. Meets at Polytechnic of North London. Room 2-5 Tower Block Monday, 6.30pm. Contact Irving Brand, Polytechnic of North London. Holloway Road. London.
ZX Seoctrom Club. Proposed new club for teenagers. Contact D Beattie. 63 Kingsley Crescent. Sawlcv. Long Eaton. Nottingham NGI03DA. Staffordshire. ZX80 National Software Association Subs: £6 Newsletter, software available on cassette Contact 15 Woodlands Road. Worn bourne. Staffordshire WV50JZ Suffolk. ZX Amateur Radio User Group Newsletter Contact Paul Newsman. 3 Red House Lane. Lcislon. Suffolk SAE essential. Noiclchonc enquiries.
Surrey. Guildford ZX81/H0 Users Group Meets Fridays, club magazine Contact A Bond. 54'Faraham Road. Guildford. Surrey GU2 5PE. 0483 621133
Surrey. Z.X8IV8I User Club Newsletter Contact David Bigdcn. PO Box 159. m-Thamcs, fl
West Susan. Hassocks ZX Micro User Oub Contact Paul King. 25 Fir Tree Way. Hassocks. West Sussex
> Newsletter, program library Contact Ray D'Arcv. Sinus User Club. The Microsystems Centre. Enterprise House. 7-71 Gordon Street. Luton 0582 412215.
6SXX
68XX Special Merest Group Contact Tim Turner. 63 Millais Road. London Ell 4HB. 01 -558 3681
Software
Land—. Software Group Meets at Polytechnic of North London. Room 2-3 Tower Nock Thursday 6pm Conlact Mike Duck at Polytechnic of North London. Holloway , London N7 Oxford. Program of the Month Oub. Discount programs, newsletter. Contact Mr Durrani. 55 St Thomas Street. Oxford OXI 1JG. (1855 250333
Liverpool Ear— »— Sorcerer Chib.
Monthly meetings. Subs: £7.50. newsletter Contact Colin Marie. 32 Watchyard Avenue. Formby, near Liverpool L37 3JU. 070 48 72137 Surrey Exidy Sorcerer User Group. Newsletter, program exhange Comae Andy Marshall. 44 Arthurs Bndgc Road. Woking. Surrey GU21 48TT
Group. Newsletter Contact UK Alpha House. 7th Floor. Rowtandswav . Manchester M22 5RG
Tangerine Users Group. Hardware software suppliers for One I and Microlan Monthly newsletter Contact Bob Green. I Mrlborough Drive. Worle. Avon. 0934 21315 Bristol, t angerine Homebrew . Contact A Coaks. 35 Mogg Slrccl . Si Wcrburghs. Bristol BS2 9UB.
7pm S 0532 U
Gipton Wood Road. Leeds 8. Mondays . Subs: £6 Contact I Youkkn. 1401408.
Chester. I I User Group Proposed new club Contact T Grimshaw. 21 Allin^ham Street. Longsighl.
M— rtnitor I |99tat User Group Software, data libraries Contact Chris Cadogan. Department of Computer Science. University of Manchester MI3 9PL.
Trtt— U-r Group. Subs £4 Newsletter, software exchange Conlact Nigel Stride. Transam Ltd. 12 Chapel Street .
London NWI. 01-402 8137
_ a. National TRS-80 User Group Mcds at Adam & Eve Puh. 1st Floor. Bradford Street . Birmingham on last Friday of month Subs: £2.50. Ncwskltcr. software library Conlact Michael Gibbons. 1 New Street. Castle Bromwich. Birmingham B38 9AP. 021- 7472260.
OMmaford. TRS-80 User Group Contact Michael Dean. 22 Roughfons. Galkywood. Chelmsford. Essex. Durham. North East TRS-80 User Group. Meets at Information Technology Centre. Gatcsliead on the third Wednesday of month. 7pm Subs: £5. Newskttcr. Conlact J Dunn. 8 Enrich Terrace. North Gateshead. County Durham.
_ . Scottish TRS-80 and Genie
User Group Meets at Mansion House Hotel. Milton Road, second Thursdays of month. 7 ,30pm Contact Dick Mackic. 3 Warrendcr Park Crescent. Edinburgh EH9 I DX. 03 1-229 6032 hfosf Wight I KS-80 User Club Meets at London Hotel. Ryde on last Friday of month. 7.30pm. Contact Scan Coulson. 0903 614589 K— L TRS-80 User Group. Contact Alan Reid. 22 Woodeys Road. Ramham. Kent. 0634 367012 Bull—. Northwest TRS-80 User Group. Meets at Barton Aero Club. Barton Aerodrome. Irlam. near Manchester on last Wednesday of month. 8pm Subs: £8 Sub-group meets at Crown Hotel. Blackfriars Street. on first and third Monday of month. Newsletter, software library Contact Melvin Franklin. 40 Cowlees. Westhoughlon . Bolton. Lancashire.
Urarp—L l K DOSPLUS User Group Conlact Peter Tootill. 101 Swanside Road. Liverpool LI4 7NL Urerp—L Merseyside TRS-SU/Vidco Genk User Group Meets second Thursday of month 7. 1 5pm Conlact Peter Toothill. 101 Swanside Road. Liverpool LI4 7NL 051 220 9733 Land—, SW. TRS-80 User Group Contact Ron Event! on 01-394 2123 Mar— ysMa. TRS-80 User Group Subs: £5 Software library . newsletter Contact N Rushtoii. 123 Roughwood Drive. Northwood. Kirby. Mcrscvsidc Mitt— Keynes. National TRS-80 and Genie User Group Fee i months, newskttcr Contact Brian Pain. 24 Oxford Street. Stony Stratford. Milton Keynes Leaden. TRS-80 Genic Group Meets at Central Common Room. The Residency . Northwick Park Hospital on first Sunday of month Contact Dr Nick Robinson . Central Rtxim. The Residency. Northwick Park Hospital. Nartbaafo. TRS -80 Users Group Meets at Welwyn Park Community Centre on alternate Thursday at 7pm Subs £12. Saturday workshop. Contact Neil Griffiths. (1858 65718 Nottingham. East Midlands TRS-80 Users Group Newsletter Contact Mike Costello. 15 Langbank Avenue. Rise Park. Nottingham NG5 5BU.
0602 751753
£10 Products monthly ncw-skttcr. has software library and prepares national workshops. Contact Marc Lcduc. 46 Highbury Avenue. Nottinghamshire NG69DB
UCSD
Hauls. UCSD System Users Society. Contact John Ash. Dicoll Data Systems Lid. Bond Close. Kingsiand Estate. Basingstoke. Hants RG20QB Oxford. UCSD Pascal UK Users Group Contact Malcolm Harper. Oxford University Computing Laboratory Programming Research Group. 45 Banbury Road. Oxford OX2 6PE
CUA
CUA Ustr Group. C ontact Adrian Waters. 9 Moss Lane. Romford. Essex
Argyll Aven Luton. Bedfordshire LU3 lEG. 058 26927.
Kant*. 6502 Users Club (Southern Region). Conlact Steve Cole. 70 Sydney Road. Gosport. Hants.
Kin^tton-uf
s. Surrey KT2
Remember
I>et us know about your micro club or user group so we can be sure the information printed here is up to date. Drop a card to Sandra (irandison. Listings Editor, at Personal Computer News, 62 Oxford Street, London Wl A 2HG, or give her a call on 01 -636 6890.
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
CENTURY
YOUR SEARCH FOR FULLY TESTED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR THE BBC MICRO IS OVER
CENTURY
DATABASICS
PCN Oatabasics is presented in three-week cycles This week it s the turn of software packages, next week hardware, and two weeks from now, peripherals We can't tit all software packages in . so we've compiled a selection . giving best sellers from 1 00 publishers and distributors
We confined coverage to five mam types of applications business, education, games, home and utility All details published are the latest available Companies wanting to add their best-selling packages to Oatabasics. or wanting to update information already here, should send details to Oatabasics. Personal
Computer News , VNU. 62 Oxford Street. London W1 A 2HG APPLICATION Each software package is listed alphabetically by its application PRICE includes VAT
MACHINE OPERATING SYSTEM on which the best selling packages runs OTHER VERSIONS indicates whether or not the package runs on a different machine or operating system
MEDIA SUPPLIEO indicates in what format the package comes — either cassette disk, or cartridge. _
MAIL ORDER AVAILABLE tells you whether or not the package is available by mail order
HAROWARE REOUIREO shows the need for special hardware, such as disk drive. lOystick or printer
PUBLISHER DISTRIBUTOR This code refers to the distributor code table at the end of the listings, which will give the name and telephone number of the publisher distributor
COMMENTS — any other points of interest
SOFTWARE
BUSINESS
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Accounting |
• |
Financial Controller |
48K |
SI |
Also on Apple ME 8 modules (£402 50 each) — sales, purchase invoicing, etc |
|||||||||
|
£339 25 |
Apple li |
General Ledger |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
Cl |
Supports 1000 accounts and 100 analyses Self-balancing lull audit trail |
||||||
|
£552 |
Apple II |
Inlormex Integrated Accounting System |
48K |
• |
11 |
Contains nominal, sales purchase ledger - VAT Can handle 800 accounts |
||||||||
|
£1.147 70 |
Apple II |
Inlorme* Integrated Business System |
48K |
• . |
• |
• |
11 |
Contains accounting system modules plus invoicing + slock |
||||||
|
£172 50 |
Apple II |
Micro-General Ledger |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
01 |
Also on ITT 3030 and Basis 1 08 Goes through profit loss • balance sheets |
||||||
|
£402 50 |
Apple II |
Nominal Ledger |
64K |
• ; |
• |
J1 |
Also on Sinus. IBM PC Apple III ♦ UCSD Requires 1 32 cotumn printer |
|||||||
|
£431 25 |
Apple II |
Payroll |
48K |
• |
Cl |
Supports weekly monthly. + per monthly Up to 350 employees per disk |
||||||||
|
£402 50 |
Apple II |
Purchase Accounting & Cost Control |
64K |
• |
J1 |
Requires 1 32 column printer also Sirius. IBM PC Apple III UCSD |
||||||||
|
£402 50 |
Apple ii |
• |
Sales Accounting System |
64K |
J1 |
Also on Smus. IBM PC. UCSD Provides conventional ledger |
||||||||
|
£339 25 |
Apple II |
□ |
Sales Ledger |
48K |
• |
Cl |
Supports 700 + accounts Direct posting credit control & 1 00 analyses sell balancing |
|||||||
|
£1.725 |
Commodore 8000 |
• |
Auditman |
32K |
• |
• |
C4 |
Also on Commodore 4000 Complete accounts production system |
||||||
|
£1.552 25 |
Commodore 8000 |
Businessman |
32K |
• |
C4 |
Also on Commodore 4000 Can be used with Auditman 5 modules |
||||||||
|
£2.052 75 |
Commodore 8000 |
■ |
Oata-Lex |
32K |
• |
• |
01 |
Designed lor solicitors • others who need to separate office & client s accounts |
||||||
|
£2.070 |
Commodore 8000 |
Microtacts |
32K |
• |
Ml |
Also on Commodore 700. Victor & Smus £345 per module Integrated accounting |
||||||||
|
£454 25 |
Commodore 8000 |
• |
Micro-simplex |
32K |
• |
M2 |
Also on Commodore 64 (£172 50) Needs printer For smaller retail business |
|||||||
|
£2.300 |
Commodore 4000 |
Pegasus Integrated Accounting Suite |
32K |
P3 |
Also on MS-DOS ( 1 28K) Contains six stand alone modules |
|||||||||
|
£1.437 50 |
CPM |
Aurora Integrated Accounting Package |
64K |
r |
Gl |
Five stand alone modules Sales, invoicing, purchase, nominal and stock |
||||||||
|
£2.760 |
CP M |
Boss |
64K |
FI |
Seven stand alone modules Can knk to Autownter & Automdex |
|||||||||
|
£805 |
CPM |
Cash Book Accounting |
64K |
V |
S2 |
Also on CP M-86 and MS-DOS Amalgamation of sales, purchase & nominal ledger |
||||||||
|
£2.300 00 |
CPM |
dBFlex |
48K |
• |
El |
Open item six module accounting system (£575 00) per module Works with dBase II |
||||||||
|
£402 50 |
C P M |
End |
64K |
□ |
: |
S3 |
Also on MS-DOS Includes six modules — invoicing, ledgers stock and payroll |
|||||||
|
£373 75 |
CPM |
Fast Nominal |
60K |
• |
T1 |
Also on MS-DOS Needs 1 32 character printer Can define up to 99 report layouts |
||||||||
|
£3.059 |
CPM |
ISBS-W |
64K |
• |
G2 |
Comes on hard disk Contains ISBS functions plus rot) costing and purchase control |
||||||||
|
£1 840 |
CPM |
sus s |
48K |
G2 |
Also on CP M-86 Contains seven modules |
|||||||||
|
£2.271 25 |
CPM |
’ • |
Multi-Index |
64K |
| |
- |
B1 |
Also on MP MS PC -DOS Contains five modules Sales, nominal. VAT & slock control |
||||||
|
£569 25 |
CPM |
' • |
Nucleus |
64K |
C2 |
Also on MS-DOS Disk drives of 280K needed A program generating system |
||||||||
|
£1.431 75 |
CPM |
Pad made Business Control System |
64K |
• |
L ; |
P2 |
Five modules (£286 35 per module) Nominal, sales, purchase, invoicing, slock |
|||||||
|
£1.360 |
CPM |
Motor Dealers Part Distribution |
64K |
• |
r |
S2 |
Also on CP M 86 4 MS-DOS Combines slock control, order processing ledgers |
|||||||
|
£1 868 75 |
CPM |
• m |
| Peachtree Base Accounting Systems |
48K |
• ■ |
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■ |
■ |
. |
■ |
PI |
Also on MP M4 M2-DOS Available on hard disk (£2. 156 25) 5 stand alone modules |
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Mailing |
£86 25 |
CP M |
Mailing List |
56K |
• |
• |
• |
S4 |
Works with Super tile Pnnts labels, files, names ft addresses Mail merge facility |
|||||
|
Management |
£226 16 |
CP M |
• |
Scratch Pad 30 |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
M4 |
Also on CP M 86 MS-DOS ft PC-DOS Spreadsheet using virtual memory |
||||
|
Mathematics |
£28 75 |
Commodore Pel |
Infinite Arithmetic |
16K |
• |
• |
S5 |
Also on Commodore 3000 4000 ft 8000 Available on (loppy disk |
||||||
|
Medical |
£51750 |
Apple II |
Medical System |
46K |
• |
• |
• |
A2 |
Also on Apple HE. Ill ft Sinus (£573 85) On hard disk Age sex register |
|||||
|
Office Information |
£402 50 |
Apple H |
Prophet II |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
A4 |
Also on IBM PC ft Corvus Concept Information system which acts as a noticeboard |
|||||
|
Payroll |
£69 00 |
Apple II |
Payroll |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
HI |
Also available as cassette for Spectrum ZX8i (£25.00) Needs printer |
|||||
|
£287 50 |
Apple II |
Tabs Payroll |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
T3 |
Also on CP M ft MS-DOS |64K| Up to 2000 employees, nine pay schemes |
||||||
|
£977 50 |
CP M |
Powerday |
48K |
• |
• |
02 |
Also on MP M and MS-DOS integrates with Omicrons nominal ledger Handles SSP |
|||||||
|
Protect Management |
£747 00 |
IBM PL |
Micronet |
48 K |
• |
• |
T2 |
Also on ICL PC. Sinus. Superbrain Apple II . ft others Critical path analysis |
||||||
|
Protect Planning |
£1 150 00 |
Commodore 8000 |
Hornet |
32K |
• |
• |
C3 |
Has eight optional variants < an eight £4 .025) Network logic ft variety of screen display |
||||||
|
Property Management |
£517 50 |
Apple II |
Property Management System |
48K |
• |
• |
A2 |
Also on Apple III Apple lie ft Sinus Pnnts rent reminders, demands etc |
||||||
|
Purchase Ledger |
£287 50 |
Apple II |
Tabs Purchase Ledger |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
T3 |
Also on CP M ft MS-DOS (64K) Open item ledger — automatic payment lacikty etc |
|||||
|
£805 00 |
CP M |
Powerbought |
48K |
• |
• |
02 |
Also on MP M ft MS-DOS Integrates with Omicron s Nominal Ledger System |
|||||||
|
Sales Ledger |
£287 50 |
Apple II |
Tabs Sales Ledger |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
T3 |
Also on CP M ft MS-DOS Part of integrated system 300 analysis codes |
|||||
|
£373 75 |
CP M |
Fast Sales |
60K |
• |
• |
• |
• |
T1 |
Also on MS-DOS ft TRS DOS Needs 132 character printer Part of Fast Range |
|||||
|
£805 00 |
CP M |
Powersaies |
48K |
• |
• |
02 |
Also on MP M ft MS-DOS Multi-user system based on mainframe software |
|||||||
|
£325 |
DEC Rainbow 100 |
Sales Ledger System |
64K |
• |
• |
• |
D2 |
Also on DEC Mate II Invoicing ft monthly statement generating system |
||||||
|
Sales Order Processing |
£805 00 |
CP M |
Compact Sales Order Processing |
64K |
• |
• |
• |
C2 |
Also on CP M 80 86 ft MS-DOS Comes on hard disk Control stock, ledgers |
|||||
|
Sales, Purchase Nominal Ledger |
£1.207 50 |
CP M |
Compact Sates Purchase & Nominal Ledger |
64K |
• |
• |
• |
C2 |
Also on CP M 80 86 ft MS-DOS Follows standard accounting procedures |
|||||
|
Sick Pay |
£80 50 |
Apple M |
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
HI |
Also on Spectrum Does all SSP calculations |
|||||
|
Statistics |
£172 50 |
Apple II |
Inter- Slat |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
• |
G1 |
Also on Basis 1 08 ft ITT 3030 Needs pnnter |
||||
|
£287 50 |
Commodore Pet |
Statistical Package lor Personal Computers |
32K |
• |
• |
• |
P7 |
Also on Commodore 64 (two modules at £99 each) ft Sirius Fully interactive |
||||||
|
£9 20 |
Sharp MZ80A |
Statistical Analysis |
48K |
• |
• |
K3 |
Also on MZ80K Calculates mean ft standard deviation for up to 100 items |
|||||||
|
£1500 |
Sinclair ZX81 |
Critical Path Analysis (CPA) |
8K |
• |
• |
HI |
Also on Spectrum (16K) Activities entered from arrow diagram Finds critical path |
|||||||
|
Stock Control |
£977 50 £373 75 |
UCSD-P System |
Trend Plot |
128K |
• |
• |
• |
• |
P5 |
Needs Hewlett Packard plotter Developed to analyse historical time senes data |
||||
|
£3 289 |
CP M |
M-SIS |
48K |
• |
• |
T2 |
Also on MS-DOS ft TRS DOS Needs 1 32 character printer Stock control system tor manutactunng industry |
|||||||
|
£33 92 |
Newbram |
Slock Control 40 4 |
32K |
• |
• |
E2 |
Stores large quantities of stock, accumulates new stock levels ft checks stock level |
|||||||
|
£25 00 |
Sinclair Spectrum |
Stock Control |
48K |
• |
• |
HI |
AlsoZXSi Fast fwd add delete item Prints complete or selective lists ft total value |
|||||||
|
Word Processing |
£228 85 |
Apple II |
Formal 80 |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
P6 |
Also Apple lie Needs 80 column card Storage retneval ot names ft addresses |
|||||
|
£92 00 |
Apple II |
Piewnter |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
• |
M5 |
Needs 80 column card Allows entry editing ft print formatting of any text type |
|||||
|
£125 35 |
Apple II |
Wordhandier |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
P4 |
Word processor for the non- professional — minimum Apple system |
||||||
|
£152 95 |
Apple III |
• |
Apple Writer 2 |
48K |
• |
• |
P6 |
I 1 I 1 I 1 i i |
||||||
|
£28 50 £1050 |
BBCModetB BBC Mode* B |
Alphabet* Word Pro |
32K 32K |
• • |
• • |
H3 |
Also available on disk Suitable lor home ft business Includes DELETE. INSERT. SAVE. Date etc |
|||||||
|
£90 85 £89 00 |
Commodore 64 Commodore 64 |
Inlomast Paperclip |
64K 64K |
• • |
• • |
• • |
R2 A3 |
Combined programmable word processor. Database and calculator Also Commodore 8000 Compatible with WordPro ft SpeilPro |
||||||
|
£488 75 |
Commodore 8000 |
Wor derail |
32K |
• |
• |
D1 |
Also on SuperPet Sirius 1 . IBM PC ft CBM 64 Routine correspondence, mailing, etc |
|||||||
|
£51 75 |
Commodore Pet |
Paper mate + |
16K |
• |
• |
S5 |
Also on Commodore 64. 3. 4. ft 8000 Available on floppy (£53 49) |
|||||||
|
£125 00 |
Commodore BK-20 |
Wordcratt 20 |
8K |
• |
• |
• |
A3 |
Also Commodore 64 — needs printer Comprehensive word processor |
||||||
|
£14500 |
CP M |
Mail Merge |
64 K |
• |
• |
XI |
Also on CP M 86 and PC-DOS An optional MERGE PRINT extra lor Wordstar |
|||||||
|
287 50 |
CP M |
Peachtext |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
PI |
Also MP M ft MS-DOS Needs high quality printer Contains proof reader |
||||||
|
- - |
£339 00 |
CP M |
Perfect Writer Speller |
64K |
• |
• |
• |
S3 |
Also MS-DOS ft Apple DOS Contains quick reference card |
|||||
|
£316 25 |
CP M |
Spellbinder |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
El |
Also MP M ft PC DOS Screen-oriented system Also on Oasis Word processing ft office management system |
||||||
|
£333 50 |
CP M |
WP2020 |
48K |
• |
• |
• |
G2 |
Menu-driven, machine independent Set of key-tops provided |
||||||
|
£225 00 |
IBM PC |
Easywriter II |
64K |
• |
• |
XI |
Bold face ft underscoring on screen 80 000 word spell checker extra (£43 151 |
|||||||
|
£340 40 |
IBM PC |
VtsiWord |
64K |
• |
• |
• |
R6 |
Mail merge facility with Visi file |
||||||
|
£339 25 |
MS-DOS |
• |
WordStar |
12BK |
• |
• |
• |
A1 |
Also on CP M Needs printer Complete screen-based WP |
|||||
|
£40 25 |
Newtxam |
Word Processor 40 12 |
32K |
• |
• |
E2 |
Automatic word wrap, editing, saving paragraphs, deleting |
|||||||
|
£325 00 |
OS9 |
Stylograph |
32K |
• |
• |
S6 |
Expandable system with modular design |
|||||||
|
£45 42 |
Sharp MZ804 |
• |
WordPro |
48K |
• |
• |
K1 |
Also on MZ80B * K Available on disk (£91 94) One of lew WP packages lor Sharp |
||||||
|
£49 95 |
Tandy TRS 801 |
• |
AJ Edit |
32K |
• |
• |
• |
• |
M6 |
Also on Genie 1 ft II Needs pnnter |
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|||||||
|
1 EDUCATION 1 |
|||||||||||||
|
Basic Course |
£9 95 |
Texas Instruments 99 4A |
Beginners Basic Tutor |
16K |
• |
• |
T5 |
Gives explanations and examples of Tl Basic — lets the user try |
|||||
|
£1395 |
Texas Instruments 99 4 A |
Teach Yourself Extended Base |
16K |
• |
T5 |
Needs extended Basic module |
|||||||
|
Business Game |
£9 95 |
BBC Model A |
Business Game |
16K |
W1 |
Also on Model B Two games tor economics, business & general studies leaching |
|||||||
|
£5 95 |
BBC Model B |
Inkosi |
32K |
• |
C9 |
Also on Vic-20 Rule lor ten years, overcoming obstacles, e g famines |
|||||||
|
Chemistry |
Et43a |
Research Machine 380Z |
Symbols To Moles |
31K |
• |
• |
H4 |
Also on Apple II Practise using chemical symbols, writing & mole concept |
|||||
|
Children |
C37 89 |
Apple II |
Bumble Plot |
48K |
• |
• |
P4 |
A set of five programs for developing graphics and maths skills For children 8 to 13 |
|||||
|
£29 84 |
Apple II |
Face Hanger |
48K |
• |
• |
P4 |
Also on IBM PC Designed lor children to learn computer keyboard by building up lace |
||||||
|
£37 89 |
Apple II |
Gertrude s Secret |
48K |
• |
P4 |
An educational game to teach logical thinking & planning For children aged 6-9 |
|||||||
|
C9 80 |
Atari 400 |
Jigsaw Puzzles |
16K |
T4 |
Also on Atari 800 Has 1 6 puzzles and optional difficulty |
||||||||
|
C9 95 |
BBC Model B |
Letters |
32 K |
C9 |
1 o 1 ! 2 |
||||||||
|
C9 95 |
BBC Model B |
Metrics |
32K |
C9 |
Also on Vic-20 ♦ Spectrum Structure of metric system, for children aged 10-15 |
||||||||
|
£5 95 |
BBC Model B |
Pascal |
32K |
C9 |
Also on Vic-20 Shows construction of Pascal Triangle and tests on it |
||||||||
|
£5 95 |
BBC Model B |
Sequences |
32K |
C9 |
Also on Vic-20 Demonstrates number patterns |
||||||||
|
£6 50 |
BBC Model B |
The Early Stages |
32K |
H3 |
Reading aid Plays nursery rhymes Available on disk |
||||||||
|
£4 50 |
BBC Model B |
Super Hangman |
32 K |
M |
Version of famous game High resolution graphics 000 words or enter own choice |
||||||||
|
£9 95 |
BBC Model B |
Tree ol Knowledge |
32K |
A9 |
Interactive program teaching categorisation Simplified information retrieval |
||||||||
|
£4 95 |
Sharp MZ80A |
Giant Maths |
32K |
S8 |
Also on MZBOK Big screen figures & humorous error messages 5 to 1 1 years |
||||||||
|
£4 95 |
Sharp MZ80A |
Rocket |
3K |
SB |
Also on MZBOA Four difficulty levels For five to 1 1 year olds |
||||||||
|
£9 20 |
Sharp MZBOA |
Teach Tables |
48K |
K3 |
Also on MZBOK Plays like game but motivates children to improve their ability |
||||||||
|
£4 95 |
Sharp MZ80K |
Master Builder |
48K |
SB |
Also on MZ80A Repair a wall using random blocks Teachesspacing |
||||||||
|
£5 25 |
Spectrum |
Alphabet |
48K |
W2 |
Picture for each letter of the alphabet Option for lower case Aimed at ages 2-6 |
||||||||
|
Classroom Monitor |
£322 00 |
UCSD-P |
Classroom Monitor |
64K |
V |
• |
K4 |
Also on Apple II Provides demonstration facilities & monitors student s progress |
|||||
|
Economics |
£28 75 |
Sharp MZBOK |
Broadwater Economics Simulation |
16K |
W1 |
Also on Commodore Pet 6 BBC Simulates micro A macro economics |
|||||||
|
French |
£14 38 |
Research Machine 380Z |
Repondez |
31K |
• |
• |
~H4| |
Also on Apple II Practising French verb formation (present tense) |
|||||
|
£9 20 |
Sharp MZ80A |
French Corrugate |
48K |
• |
K 1 |
Also on MZBOK Automatically conjugates regular verbs mlo lenses |
|||||||
|
£9 20 |
Sharp MZ BOA |
French Verbs |
48K |
K1 |
Also on MZBOK Allows user to impart up to 20 verbs & eight tenses at a tune |
||||||||
|
Graphics |
£8 00 |
BBC Model B |
Painter |
32K |
A5 |
Also on Spectrum (£5 75). Atom (£6 90) & on disk |
|||||||
|
£9 95 |
BBC Model B |
Creative Graphics |
16K |
A9 |
Book available (£7 50) Designed lo illustrate BBC graphics |
||||||||
|
History |
£20 13 |
Sharp MZ80A |
Kings & Queens |
48K |
K1 |
Also on MZ80K Facts & figures on English monarchs since 1066 |
|||||||
|
Languages |
£7 95 |
Sharp MZ80A |
MuHilinguist |
3K |
S8 |
Also on MZBOK A language tutor to suit all European languages |
|||||||
|
Mathematics |
£8 95 |
BBC Model B |
Angle |
32K |
C9 |
Also or Spectrum Includes lour programes designed to teacti simple geometry |
|||||||
|
£9 95 |
BBC Model A |
Algerbraic Manipulations |
16K |
W1 |
Also on Model B Includes lour programs designed lor use in maths teaching |
||||||||
|
£82 80 |
IBM PC |
Fact Track |
64K |
• |
• |
■3 |
Learning basic arithmetic Presents simple two-lme sums in random order |
||||||
|
£46 00 |
Sharp MZBOA |
Curve Fitting |
48K |
K3 |
Also on MZBOK Calculates, intercepts & plots power curve |
||||||||
|
£9 20 |
Sharp MZ80A |
Directed Numbers |
48K |
K3 |
Also on MZ80K Teaches difficult mathematical functions |
||||||||
|
£9 20 |
Sharp MZ80A |
Divisor Advisor |
48K |
• |
K3 |
Also on MZBOK Teaches division at a variety of skill levels |
|||||||
|
£27 60 |
Sharp MZBOA |
Numerical integration |
48K |
• |
K3 |
Also on MZBOK & B Teaches Simpson s Rule |
|||||||
|
£5 25 |
Spectrum |
Counting |
16K |
W2 |
Graded programs Good as a first introduction to numbers Aimed at ages 3-6 |
||||||||
|
Meteorology |
£23 00 |
Research Machines 380Z |
Weather |
31K |
• |
<r |
H4 |
Also on Apple II Gives synoptic charts Teaches elementary meteorology |
|||||
|
Morse Code |
£9 20 |
Sharp MZBOA |
Morse Tutor |
48K |
• ' |
K3 |
Also on MZBOK Used to teach morse code by sight and sound At seven levels |
||||||
|
Physics |
£14 38 |
Research Machines 380Z |
Lenses |
31K |
• |
• |
H4 |
Also on Apple II Illustrates formation ol images by lenses using ray diagrams |
|||||
|
£9 20 |
Sharp MZBOA |
Casino Ch*» |
48K |
K3 |
Also on MZBOK Uses radioactive chips to teach half-kfe concept |
||||||||
|
Typing |
£28 75 |
CP M |
Touch n Go |
48K |
• |
C6 |
Also on MS-DOS Typing tutor for mastenng numeric pad & Qwerty keyboard |
||||||
|
£31 05 |
IBM PC |
Typing Tutor |
64K |
n |
• |
13 |
Presents exercises tor leamina touch tvDina or for imorovino existma skills |
||||||
|
II GAMES |
|||||||||||||
|
1 1 Adventure |
£1795 |
Atari < |
I |
'6K l« |
• |
■ |
Also runs on TRS-80 BBC. Vc-20 A classic text adventure |
||||||
|
£7 99 |
BBC Model B 1 |
1 Adventure |
16K • |
• |
M7 |
Also runs on Atom Many rooms to explore and many hazards to overcome |
|||||||
|
M |
£9 95 |
BBC Model B |
Philosopher s Quest |
| 16K \m |
’I' |
• |
’ |
u |
1 W1 |
Progress through a world of fiendish puzzles |
|
£9 95 |
BBC Model B |
Sphinx |
16K |
• |
W1 |
A classic adventure, moving through caves avoiding hazards to collect treasure |
||||||||
|
£1380 |
Commodore Pet |
• |
Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy |
32K |
• |
S5 |
Also runs on Commodore 64. Vic-20. 3000. 4000, 8000 Involved textual game |
|||||||
|
£18 40 |
Commodore Pel |
Pythonesque |
32K |
• |
S5 |
Increasingly difficult textual game based on Monty Python Disk available (£20 1 2) |
||||||||
|
£24 99 |
Commodore Vic-20 |
River Rescue |
8K |
• |
• |
T4 |
Needs joystick Captain boat through treacherous rrvers to rescue explorers |
|||||||
|
£8 00 |
Dragon 32 |
Escape |
32K |
• |
• |
M12 |
! o i | I ? 5 1 I 8 < i i |
|||||||
|
£8 00 |
Dragon 32 |
Flipper |
32K |
• |
Mi 2 |
A game ol intrigue and strategy Requires an agile mind and a lot ol lore-thought |
||||||||
|
£8 00 |
Dragon 32 |
Mansion Adventure |
32K |
• |
M12 |
Wind your way through an old mansion picking up dues to find the diamond . |
||||||||
|
£7 95 |
Dragon 32 |
Wizard War |
32K |
• |
• |
S7 |
Needs loysbck Magical combat for two to nine players interactive duel |
|||||||
|
£35 00 |
IBM PC |
Adventure in Serema |
64K |
• |
• |
13 |
Needs colour graphics adaptor and direct drive colour monitor for use |
|||||||
|
£6 90 |
One |
• |
Zodiac |
16K |
• |
A5 |
Also runs on Atom A thinking persons adventure game |
|||||||
|
£12 07 |
Sharp MZ80A |
• |
Adventure |
48K |
• |
Kt |
■ 1 | 1 i § I |
|||||||
|
£1207 |
Sharp MZ80A |
• |
Quest |
48K |
• |
K1 |
Also runs on Sharp MZ806 and MZ80K Dungeons & Dragons type game |
|||||||
|
£7 95 |
Sharp MZ80K |
• |
Nightmare Park |
48K |
• |
S8 |
Also runs on MZ80A Cross Nightmare Park Every few steps play game or task |
|||||||
|
£7 95 |
Sharp MZ80K |
• |
Tombs ol Katnak |
48K |
• |
S8 |
Also runs on MZ80A Bargain lor Hems required before entenng tombs |
|||||||
|
£5 95 |
Spectrum |
Faust Folly |
16K |
• |
A6 |
A 16K adventure with the same traps, magic, fiends, treasure as the 48K game |
||||||||
|
£1495 |
Spectrum |
The Hobbit |
48K |
• |
M8 |
Obtect is to get treasure For one player Can instruct computer in ordinary English |
||||||||
|
£5 00 |
Spectrum |
• |
Orb |
16K |
• |
15 |
Also runs on Dragon 32 and Commodore Vic-20 Explore labyrinth and destroy Orb |
|||||||
|
£1000 |
Spectrum |
• |
Pimania |
48K |
• |
A7 |
Also runs on Sinclair ZX81 BBC 13. Dragon 32 Reviewed 18 3 83 |
|||||||
|
£5 00 |
Spectrum |
• |
The Quest |
48K |
• |
IS |
Also runs on Dragon 32 Fighting adventure game |
|||||||
|
£5 00 |
Spectrum |
• |
Star Trek |
48K |
• |
• |
15 |
Also runs on Dragon 32 and Commodore Vic-20 Hunt down the Klingon in space |
||||||
|
£5 95 |
Spectrum |
Slippery Sid |
16K |
• |
• |
• |
S9 |
Needs joystic and keyboard to use Snake type game |
||||||
|
£1006 |
Tandy TRS-80 1 |
• |
Mysterious Adventurer |
16K |
• |
M6 |
Also runs on Tandy TRS-80 III. Genie 1, II. Colour Genie and BBC B |
|||||||
|
£4 95 |
Texas Instruments 99 4A |
Forbidden City |
16K |
• |
A8 |
You have to explore a deserted alien city with many hazards on the way |
||||||||
|
£3 95 |
Texas Instruments 99 4A |
Sorcerers Castle |
16K |
• |
A8 |
You are trying to rescue the captured princess |
||||||||
|
£7 50 |
BBC Model B |
Atlantis |
32K |
• |
14 |
Guide submarine through caverns & destroy enemy |
||||||||
|
Arcade type |
£9 99 |
Commodore Vic-20 |
Night Crawler |
5K |
• |
R2 |
A Centipede style game Fast action graphics and sound effects |
|||||||
|
£5 50 |
Spectrum |
• |
Arcadia |
16K |
• |
16 |
Also on Commodore Vic-20 1 2 levels of aliens attacking m different ways |
|||||||
|
£5 95 |
Spectrum |
Ground Attack |
16K |
• |
S9 |
Variable speeds allows this game to be played by everyone |
||||||||
|
£3 95 |
Texas Instruments 99 4 A |
Bomber |
16K |
• |
A8 |
Must land plane & bomb skyscrapers |
||||||||
|
£5 95 |
Spectrum |
Cyber Rais |
16K |
• |
• |
• |
S9 |
Needs foystick and keyboard to run |
||||||
|
Asteroids type |
£4 95 |
Spectrum |
Meteor Storm |
16K |
• |
Qt |
Progressive difficulty vanety of controls |
|||||||
|
£6 95 |
Spectrum |
Time-Gate |
48K |
• |
01 |
Time travel. 3D graphics, colour, cockpit view and instrument display |
||||||||
|
£495 |
ZX81 |
Asteroids |
4K |
• |
S9 |
Fast moving, suitable for all ages |
||||||||
|
Ballooning |
£14 95 |
Atan 400 |
• |
Up Up Away |
16K |
• |
S13 |
Reviewed in PCN week ending April 29 Also on Atari 800 Available on disk |
||||||
|
Centipede type |
£7 99 |
Dragon 32 |
Caterpillar |
32K |
• |
• |
M12 |
A new generation munching game |
||||||
|
Chess type |
£7 99 |
BBC Model B |
Chess |
16K |
• |
M7 |
Machine code, high resolution graphics with many play options |
|||||||
|
£24 95 |
Dragon 32 |
Cyrus Chess |
32K |
• |
D3 |
Won European microcomputer chess championship 1981 Nine levels ol difficulty |
||||||||
|
£1450 |
Sharp MZ80A |
• |
Chess |
48K |
• |
• |
K1 |
Also on Sharp MZ806 & MZ80K 1 4 levels of difficulty |
||||||
|
£42 95 |
Texas Instruments 99 4 A |
Chess |
16K |
• |
• |
T5 |
Different drtficulty levels Will solve problems Can teach chess |
|||||||
|
Darts |
£19 99 |
Alan 400 |
• |
Darts |
8K |
• |
• |
T4 |
Also on 800 Aim & throw — the computer does the arithmetic |
|||||
|
Detender type |
£22 80 |
Alan 400 800 |
• |
Submanne Commander |
16K |
• |
• |
I-t |
One player Nme levels of difficulty Destroy stepping Oxygen levels, fuel etc |
|||||
|
£9 95 |
BBC Model B |
Planetoid |
32K |
• |
• |
A9 |
A game of speed & skill Available on floppy disk (£1 1 501 |
|||||||
|
£7 95 |
Commodore Vic-20 |
Alien Blitz |
5K |
• |
• |
• |
A3 |
Needs |oysbck to run Difficulty levels, colour & sound |
||||||
|
£9 99 |
Commodore Vic-20 |
AnrWviator |
3K |
• |
• |
• |
R2 |
Based on Defender |
||||||
|
£6 95 |
Spectrum |
Peneiraior |
48K |
• |
• |
M8 |
Two levels of difficulty difficulty |
|||||||
|
£21 95 |
TI99 4A |
Parsec |
16K |
• |
• |
T5 |
Increasingly difficult After four onslaughts pass through to next stage |
|||||||
|
Flight Simulator |
£22 80 |
Atari 400 |
Jumbo Jet Pilot |
16K |
• |
• |
T4 |
Also Atari 800 Ten difficulty levels View through cockpit with flight instrumentation |
||||||
|
£7 95 |
Spectrum |
Flight Simulation |
48K |
• |
• |
S10 |
Also on ZX81 (£5 95) Shows control panel & control view |
|||||||
|
£1720 |
Tandy TRS-80 |
Jumbo |
16K |
• |
• |
M6 |
Also on Genie 1. II & BBC Model B Simulation of piloting a Jumbo |
|||||||
|
Football |
£29 99 |
Atari 400 |
Kick Back |
8K |
• |
• |
T4 |
Also available on Atan 800 Needs toystick to run Beat the high score |
||||||
|
£1955 |
Atan 400 |
Soccer |
8K |
• |
T4 |
Also on Atan 800 Aenal view of field Reviewed 1 1 3 83 |
||||||||
|
Frogger type |
£5 50 |
Commodore Vic-20 |
Wacky Waiters |
35K |
• |
• |
16 |
Waiter serving drinks in hotel Has to hop from lift to lift |
||||||
|
£9 99 |
Commodore Vic-20 |
Hopper |
3K |
• |
• |
• |
R2 |
A version of Frogger |
||||||
|
£5 95 |
Spectrum |
Horace Goes Ski-mg |
16K |
• |
• |
S10 |
I i * 1 i i i 1 1 * 2 i |
|||||||
|
Golf |
£7 95 |
Dragon 32 |
Golf |
32K |
• |
• |
S7 |
For one or two players Full handicapping system |
|
Im |
ill |
I i |
1 |
n |
& |
i |
Hi Hi |
irtfM iguin |
z |
ii |
! |
|||
|
! |
1 |
i |
! 3 |
I 1 |
I |
I |
||||||||
|
£3 75 |
Spectrum |
Golf |
16K |
• |
• |
• |
R3 |
For one or two players Choice of nine or 13 holes |
||||||
|
£3 75 |
Sinclair ZX81 |
Golf |
16K |
• |
• |
• |
R3 |
Similar to other golf games m black and white |
||||||
|
Helicopter |
£24 95 |
Commodore Vc-20 |
• |
Chop Lifter |
8K |
• |
• |
• |
A3 |
Also on Commodore 64 Needs loystek to run Vc version of USA s best-seller |
||||
|
Jigsaw |
£14 99 |
Atari 400 |
• |
British Heritage Jigsaw Puzzle |
8K |
• |
T4 |
Also on Alan 800 Educational game with selective difficulty |
||||||
|
Kong type |
£7 95 |
Commodore Vic-20 |
Bonzo |
BK |
• |
• |
• |
A3 |
Workman dodges robots on split-level Sound & lull graphics |
|||||
|
£8 00 |
Dragon 32 |
Donkey King |
32K |
• |
• |
• |
M12 |
Popular arcade game |
||||||
|
£9 95 |
BBC Model B |
Monsters |
32K |
• |
W1 |
The player has to run up & down ladders 6 along walls, pursued by monsters |
||||||||
|
Maze type |
t24 95 |
Dragon 32 |
Ghost Anack |
N A |
• |
• |
D3 |
The aim is to avoid & eliminate ghosts which roam a maze |
||||||
|
£8 00 |
Dragon 32 |
Jerusalem Adventure |
32K |
• |
• |
M12 |
Aim is to get treasure & avoid being eaten |
|||||||
|
£5 95 |
Spectrum |
Hungry Horace |
16K |
• |
• |
S10 |
Animated maze game with sound & lull graphics |
|||||||
|
£4 95 |
Spectrum |
• |
Mmed-Out |
48K |
• |
• |
01 |
Reviewed in PCN week ending April 22 Also on Dragon 32 |
||||||
|
£5 96 |
Spectrum |
Munc her |
16K |
• |
• |
S9 |
A monster munching marathon |
|||||||
|
£8 00 |
Spectrum |
Spectres |
16K |
• |
B3 |
An increasingly difficult maze game The odtect is to tit light bulbs S destroy ghosts |
||||||||
|
£1000 |
Sinclair ZX81 |
Mazogs |
16K |
• |
B3 |
Three levels Find & collect treasure in a maze & escape |
||||||||
|
Pieman Type |
£9 95 |
BBC Model B |
Snapper |
16K |
• |
• |
• |
W1 |
Based on Pacman |
|||||
|
£9 50 |
Colour Genie |
Chomper |
16K |
• |
K2 |
Based on Pacman |
||||||||
|
£8 00 |
Dragon 32 |
Scartman |
32K |
• |
M12 |
Based on Pacman |
||||||||
|
£4 95 |
Spectrum |
Gnasher |
16K |
• |
R3 |
Joystick optional Based on Pacman using Beano characters |
||||||||
|
Pool |
£8 50 |
BBC Model B |
Billiards |
32K |
• |
H3 |
Available on disk A game for all ages |
|||||||
|
Racing |
£7 95 |
Dragon 32 |
Grand Pri* |
32K |
• |
• |
S7 |
For one or two players, features eight Grand Pnx tracks & 1 0 levels ot difficulty |
||||||
|
£21 95 |
TI99 4A |
Car Wars |
16K |
• |
T5 |
Race through maze whilst avoiding computer controlled car |
||||||||
|
Science Fiction |
£1995 |
Apple II |
Lunar Leepe' |
16K |
• |
• |
S12 |
Reviewed in PCN week ending Apnl 22 |
||||||
|
Shooting |
£29 95 |
Atari 400 |
• |
Claim Jumper |
16K |
• |
• |
C8 |
Also on Atan 800 A two player shoot-out over gold nuggets & cash |
|||||
|
£29 95 |
Atari 400 |
Shamus |
16K |
• |
• |
C8 |
Player has to move through lair avoiding hazards |
|||||||
|
£5 95 |
BBC Model B |
• |
invisible Man |
32K |
• |
C9 |
Also on Commodore Vc-20 Arm is to shoot man who keeps disappearing |
|||||||
|
£9 99 |
Commodore Vic-20 |
Quacker |
3K |
• |
• |
R2 |
Aim is to shoot down ducks & rabbits on shooting gallery |
|||||||
|
£1995 |
Commodore Vic-20 |
• |
Spiders ol Mars |
N A |
• |
A3 |
Popular game tor the Vc-20 Also on Commodore 64 |
|||||||
|
£5 95 |
Spectrum |
khgh Noon |
I6K |
• |
• |
A6 |
Clean up chaos & disorder in town |
|||||||
|
Space |
£9 95 |
Dragon 32 |
Dragon Trek |
32K |
• |
• |
S7 |
A version of Star Trek with ten levels of difficulty |
||||||
|
£5 95 |
Spectrum |
Android Run |
16K |
• |
• |
A6 |
Control android to shoot walls, kill mutants & reach central complex |
|||||||
|
£5 95 |
Spectrum |
Cosmos |
16K |
• |
• |
A6 |
Defend space convoy from a kens & asteroids |
|||||||
|
£5 50 |
Spectrum |
Schizoids |
16K |
• |
16 |
Space bull-dozer nudges shapes into black hole |
||||||||
|
£5 95 |
Spectrum |
Starship Enterprise |
48K |
• |
S9 |
Based on the classic Star Trek Includes arcade action |
||||||||
|
£4 95 |
Spectrum |
• |
Star Trek |
48K |
• |
R3 |
Also on ZX81 (£3 95) One player, sound & full colour graphics strategy game |
|||||||
|
Space Invader type |
£7 99 |
BBC Model B |
Swoop |
..32K |
• |
M7 |
Written in machine code with lull colour & high resolution graphes |
|||||||
|
£7 50 |
BBC Model B |
Model B Invaders |
32K |
• |
14 |
A Space Invaders game with high resolution 6 colour graphics |
||||||||
|
£9 99 |
Commodore Vc-20 |
Ortxs |
3K |
• |
• |
R2 |
Based on Missile Command Fast & colour |
|||||||
|
£1995 |
Dragon 32 |
Cosmic Invaders |
NA |
• |
D3 |
Joystick optional 1 5 levels of difficulty |
||||||||
|
£6 50 |
Spectrum |
Destroyer |
16K |
• |
IS |
Destroy the varying alien invaders |
||||||||
|
£4 95 |
Spectrum |
Intruders |
16K |
• |
Ol |
Includes mutants, random saucers bonus base & 1 4 different aliens Sound & colour |
||||||||
|
£5 00 |
Spectrum |
Spectral Invaders |
16K |
• |
B3 |
For one or two players Increasingly difficult, high resolution colour graphics |
||||||||
|
£21 95 |
TI99 4A |
Invaders |
16K |
• |
T5 |
Based on Space Invaders After every two screens a new character appears |
||||||||
|
£3 95 |
Sinclair ZX81 |
Invaders |
4K |
• |
S9 |
Based on Space Invaders |
||||||||
|
Sport |
£33 35 |
IBM PC |
Decathlon |
64K |
• |
• |
• |
13 |
Needs colour graphics adaptor & direct drive colour monitor For up to six players |
|||||
|
Strategy |
£7 95 |
Dragon 32 |
Wizard War |
32K |
• |
S7 |
Reviewed in PCN week ending Apnl 8 |
|||||||
|
Variety |
£5 95 |
Commodore Vc-20 |
Innovation Cassette |
48K |
• |
M8 |
One tape containing seven games |
|||||||
|
£5 95 |
Spectrum |
Over the Spectrum |
16K |
• |
M8 |
One tape with 10 games Defender to geometry beginners to advanced |
||||||||
|
Various |
£29 95 |
Atari 400 |
• |
Picnic Paranoia |
16K |
• |
• |
C8 |
Also on Atari 800 Needs roystick to run A graphics game based on picnic site |
|||||
|
£4 95 |
Colour Genie |
Breakout |
16K |
• |
• |
M9 |
Different levels of skill |
|||||||
|
£6 95 |
Commodore Vc-20 |
Amok |
5K |
• |
A3 |
Chased by robots in enclosed room Different levels of difficulty |
||||||||
|
£9 95 |
Commodore Vc-20 |
Black Squid |
3K |
• |
L |
• |
C8 |
Get men to shore m shortest time |
|
Debugger |
£258 75 |
CP M |
• |
Animator |
64K |
• |
• |
Mil |
Also on Unix 6 MS100S interactive source level debugging tool tor CIS Cobol |
|||||
|
File Transfer |
£132 25 |
CP M |
MTAM |
16K |
• |
• |
• |
LI |
Needs common interlace ports or modem access Utility tor transfenng CP M files |
|||||
|
ap |
£24 95 |
Atari |
Constructor |
48K |
□ • |
• |
• |
• |
C8 |
Also for Apple lie Parameter driven machine code programs high res graphics Less experienced 6 new programmers can design animated sequences |
||||
|
£9 95 |
BBC Model A |
• |
Creative Graphics |
16K |
W1 |
Also for BBC model B 30 programs on cassette produce range of pictures 6 patterns |
||||||||
|
£24 95 |
BBC Model B |
EDG Graphics Package |
32K |
• |
. |
S7 |
Computer aided design package Reviewed 1 1 3 83 |
|||||||
|
£50 60 |
CP M |
CP M Graphics |
64K |
• |
• |
D4 |
Range goes up to £421 70 6 conforms to GKS Graphics Standard |
|||||||
|
Language |
£488 75 |
CP M |
• |
CISCobol |
64K |
Mil |
Also on Unix Compact, interactive ANSI 74 standard implementation of Cobd |
|||||||
|
£1.109 75 |
CP M |
• |
Level II Coboi |
96K |
• |
• |
Mil |
Also on Unix & MS-DOS High level ANSI 74 Compiler, mainframe-compat code |
||||||
|
£396 00 |
CP M |
Fortran 80 |
• |
• |
T2 |
Useful tor scientific applications, where Pascal is inefficient |
||||||||
|
£285 20 |
CP M |
• |
Pascal — MT - |
64K |
• |
• |
XI |
ANSI standard Pascal lor Z80 processors Also on CP M 86 (£484-90) |
||||||
|
£210 |
CP M |
• |
Supersoft C Compiler |
48K |
• |
• |
M4 |
Also on CP M-86. MS OOS. PC DOS Fast implementation ot C |
||||||
|
£1 14 43 |
Commodore 64 |
• |
DTL-Basic Compiler |
32K |
• |
D1 |
Also on Commodore 8000. 4000 & 3000 Also tape version on CBM 64 (£39 90 1 |
|||||||
|
£1685 |
BBC Model A |
• |
Lisp on the BBC |
16K |
• |
W1 |
Also on BBC Model B Book available £7 50 Lisp is artrfical intelligence language |
|||||||
|
£253 00 |
CP M |
• |
ProPascal |
56K |
• |
• |
F' |
Also on CDOS Needs two disk drives Native code Pascal |
||||||
|
£40 19 |
Sharp MZ80A |
• |
Forth |
48K |
• |
K1 |
Also on MZ80K & Osborne Allows implementation of Forth |
|||||||
|
£25 |
Spectrum |
Hisoft Pascal |
48K |
• |
H5 |
Reviewed in PCN week ending April 8 Pascal compiler and screen editor |
||||||||
|
£421 70 |
Any 8 or 16 bit machine |
PL 1 |
48K |
• |
• |
D4 |
A compact implementation based on ANSI standard general purpose subset of PL 1 |
|||||||
|
£350 75 |
IBM PC |
• |
Lattice-C |
64K |
• |
• |
LI |
Also on MS DOS C Compiler tor 1 6 bit machines -- full implementation & execution |
||||||
|
Unker |
£224 25 |
CP M |
Pink 2 |
48K |
• |
• |
LI |
Up to 8 megabytes |
||||||
|
Operations |
£59 80 |
CP M |
Operating Guide |
48K |
• |
• |
El |
Works by putting CP M to sleep & replacing it with operating environment |
||||||
|
Operating system |
£22.94 |
Apple ii |
Fasdos |
48K |
• |
P4 |
Disk operating system tor Apples which speeds up location of binary & Applesoft files |
|||||||
|
£277 |
8086 micro |
Concurrent CP M-86 |
48K |
• |
• |
T2 |
Enables tour separate tasks to run in a single user station |
|||||||
|
£295 20 |
Any 8-bit micro |
CP M ♦ |
128K |
• |
• |
D4 |
Upward compatible from CP M enhanced 8-bit micro O S |
|||||||
|
£126 50 |
Any 8-bit micro |
CP M2 2 |
64K |
• |
D4 |
O S tor 8-bit micros with over 1 5 million users |
||||||||
|
£379 50 |
Any 8-bil micro |
MPM |
64K |
• |
• |
D4 |
Multiuser, multitasking Features record & file locking date & time stamping etc |
|||||||
|
£210 80 |
Any 16-bit micro |
CPM-86 |
64 K |
• |
• |
D4 |
Manages up to one megabyte of RAM & allows up to 1 28 megabytes of on-line storage |
|||||||
|
£548 20 |
Any 1 6-bit micro |
MP M-86 |
64K |
• |
• |
D4 |
Multi-user Multi-tasking Multi-user capability with multi-programmmg tor each user |
|||||||
|
£168 70 |
Any 8 or 1 6 bft machine |
CP Net |
64K |
• |
• |
D4 |
A CP M compatible O S designed to access local & networked resources |
|||||||
|
£295 20 |
Motorola MC68000 |
CPM68K |
64K |
• |
• |
D4 |
Extends CP M to Motorola MC6800 microprocessors Single user single tasking |
|||||||
|
Program Generator |
£228 85 |
Apple II |
• |
Ouickcode |
64K |
• |
• |
P4 |
Also on IBM PC Program generator tor dBase It |
|||||
|
£126 50 |
CP M |
• |
Fwme |
64K |
• |
• |
Mil |
Also lor Umx & MS-DOS Programming tool, tor generating Cobol code |
||||||
|
£379 50 |
CP M |
v |
Last One |
64K |
• |
• |
S3 |
Also on MS-DOS and Apple DOS |
||||||
|
Programming Tool |
£2.500 |
Apple II |
Pascal Isam Pascal Form |
48K |
• |
• |
A4 |
Also on IBM PC & Corvus Concept Needs Corvus hard disk Pascal prog tool |
||||||
|
£287 50 |
CP M |
Fileshare |
48K |
• |
Mil |
Also on MP M Bank-switched memory or CP M network |
||||||||
|
£7 95 |
Dragon 32 |
Dragon Selection 2 |
32K |
• |
D3 |
Four utility programs which can be listed to see how the program works |
||||||||
|
Telex |
£2.11370 |
Superbrain |
Micro Telex |
64K |
• |
• |
El |
Also on Televideo 802 Enables automatic sendmg-receivmg or telex by micro |
||||||
|
Testing Tool |
£95 82 |
CP MOO |
Diagnostics II |
32K |
• |
• |
M4 |
Also on CP M-86 and MS DOS Tests systems |
||||||
|
Time Recording |
£862 50 |
Commodore 8000 |
Minuteman |
32K |
• |
• |
C4 |
Also on Commodore 4000 Time recording system Can produce range or reports |
||||||
|
£402 50 |
CPM-86 |
• |
Time Recording System |
64K |
• |
• |
D2 |
Also on CP M 80 Control over man hour expenditure by jot) or account number |
||||||
|
Utilities |
£23 00 |
toe* |
Computech Utilities Disk II |
48K |
• |
• |
Cl |
Also on Apple lie Error checking, copying Single disk copy Label disk |
||||||
|
£11500 |
IBM PC |
C-Food Smorgasbord |
64K |
• |
• |
LI |
Decimal arithmetic, low level & terminal independent input & output |
A1 ACT Pulsar 021 -454 8585 A2 Advanced Quality Software Norwich 21 1 17 A3 Audiogenic Reading 595647 M Atlantic U Lifeboat. 01-836 9028
Software Nottingham 4 1 2777 AS A & F Software 061-223 6206M Abbe* Electron**. 01-203 1465 A7 Automata UK Portsmouth Ml MMS Bedford 40601 M2 Vicrosimplex Macclesfield 6 1 5000 M3 McDowell Knaggs & Associates Worcester 6 1 226 1 M4 Micro
Technology Tunbridge Wells 45433 MS Micromedia. 01-843 9457 MS Molimerx. Bexhill-on-Sea 223636 M7 Micro Power Leeds 683 186 MS Melbourne House. 01 -977 91 60 MS Mercury Software Darwen 776677 MIS MicroPro 01-499 5777 Mil MicroFocus. Swindon 695891 M12 Microdeal St Austell 67676
01 Owt Microcom mu meat ions , Bishops Slorllord 723848 02 O micron 01-636 6575
PI Peachtree Software International Maidenhead 3271 1 P2 Padmede Fleet 21892 P3 Pegasus. Kettering 522822 P4 Pete & Pam Computers. 01 -769 1 022 K PE Consulting Group. Egham 3441 1 PS Personal Computers 01-377 1200 W PTFIC. 01 -836 2206 Q1 Quicksitva. Southampton 20169
Id Rapid Terminals High Wycombe 26271 IB Rabbit Software 01-863 0833 R3 R & R Software. Gloucester 502819 SI Systematics International Microsystems Haverhill 61 121 S2 SGS Software Products. 01 -486 7498 S3 Silicon Valley Trade 01 -242 2807 $4 Southdata, 01 -994 5477 SS Supersoft. 01 -861 1 166 SS Seed Brownh.fls 378151 $7 Salamander Brighton 77 1 942 SS Soto Software Worcester 424 1 52 SS Sitversoft 0 1 • 748 4 1 25 S10 Sinclair Research. Cambridge 353204 SI 1 Stage One Software. Poole 735656 S12 SBD Software 01-870 9275 S13 Starcade 051-236 6628
T1 Tndata Micros 021 -622 6065 T2 Tamsys Windsor 56747 T3 Tabs Andover 5893 T4 Thom EMI. 01 -836 2444 TS Texas Instruments. Bedford 6321 1
W1 John Wiley & Sons. Chichester 784531 W2 Widgit Software 01-444 5285 XI Xilan Systems. Southampton 33471 1
735242 »8 Apex Trading Brighton 36894 M Acomsoft Cambridge 316039
B1 Bonsai. 01 -580 0902 12 Bristol Software Factory Bristol 23430 B3 Bug-Byte 051-227 2299
Cl Computech Systems, 01-794 0202 C2 Compact Accounting. Dorking 887373 C3 Claremont Controls. Rothbury 21061 C4 Computer Services Midlands 021-382 4171 CSComshare 0 1 -222 5665 C« Carton Software 01-379 6502C7Cyderpress Wallingford 37769 C8 Channel 8 Software, Preston 53057 CSChalksoft Wellington 7117
•1 Dataview Colchester 869414 02 DEC. Basingstoke 59200 03 Dragon Data Kenfig Hill 744700 04 Digital Research Newbury
El Encolel Systems. 01 -686 9687 E2 Eistree Computer Centre. 01 -953 6921 PI Ferran, 01-751 5791 T2 Farmplan Computer Systems. Ross-on-Wye 64321 61 Great Northern Leeds 589960 62 Graftcom Systems. 01-727 5561
Ml Hildertey, 01-485 1059 K2 Hartford Software Northwich. 781 156 M3 H 4 H Software. Runcorn 65566 H4 Heinemann. 01-637 331 1 MS Hisoft. Swindon 26616
II informex. 01-318 4213 B Intelligence (UK) 01-543371 1 13 IBM UK Product Services. Basingstoke 56 14414 UK Software Blackpool 2 1 555 IS Impact Software 031-441 4257 M Imagine Software 05 1 -236 6849 II Jarman Systems, Tring 6841
Ml Kuma Computers. Maidenhead 71 778 M2 Kansas City Systems. Chesterfield 850357 M3 Knights. Aberdeen 630526 K4 Keen Cnmnulwrc Nnrtinnham 419777 MS Knhra Micro Marketinn Hontaujin-Tiamin 0
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PCN Billboard
Sinclair ZXS1 plus IhK RAM. mini condition. £60 worth or Program*, all boned, worth £141) accept £71). Tel: U564 826 781 after 6pm
CCash! leash' leash’ leash! Must sell C B. I lomchasc line all extras) to raise cash lor Spectrum. I**). Please’ Please' Must sell as soon as possible. D Kelly. P.O Box 109. Rathcoole. Co. Dublin. Eire
Wauteri keyboard ease to hold Spectrum nr ZX8I with instructions to hold I6K package and 48K Spectrum I. Pulton. Dcrrvnagrccn. Dmmorc. Co. Tyrone BT78 3BE
Atari Star Raiders. Swampus. Air Strike. Frogger. Mystery Fun I louse and others.
£10 each Tel: Bristol (02721 40662 5pm-7pm Don't missthis great bargain Jupiter Ace I6K Software Dictator. 14 Intruders. £4, Breakout. £3.50. Ralph Lorenz. 2 Brook End Drive. Henky-in- Arden. Solihull Midlands B95 5JA. AppteH game disk*. two-thirds cost price. Cranston Manor. Prisoner. Thunder- land. Mission Asteroid: or all (or £50. Also ITT 2020 3.2 Disk controller £25. may swop Tel: 01-841 2788 eves/ weekends
Sinclair ZX8I. plus I6K RAM. over 260K of prerecorded tapes, all boxed, worth 1140. bargain for £70 Tel: 0564 826781 after 6pm only C8 enthusiast turned micro enthusiast must sell CB setup. 120 channel CB. silver rod antenna, power pack, heavy duty cable. 190 ono. D Kelly. PO Box 100. RathcosleCo. Dublin Eire zx Spectrum owner needs more soft¬ ware. if you have some to sell phone Rainham (Essex) 22950 after 6.30pm or
TWW14A, excellent condition, five months old. cassette, leads. 3D Maze game, manuals ( I6K). £150 ono. Tel: (0706) 843664. 98 Oldham Road. Shaw. Greater Manchester Vk 20. cassette recorder. 3K Super Expander cartridge. £55 of writ ware, joystick . users guide . fully boxed . sell for £150 Tel: Birmingham 021-351 3367 evenings Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday
Commodore 64 with C2N cassette unit good condition, must sell. £300. Tel: 01-761 1 830.
ZX SpKtnuu accessories: printer + 120 printer paper. £40; AGE joystick. £20: software. Spectral Invaders. Time gate. Star Trail. 3D-Tanx. Otbilcr. Right Simulation. Ardadia. Specters. Pcnclra- lor. Meteoroids. Arcade pack. £40 Tel: 087 255 2842.
Appi* II, 48K DOS 3 3 colour card, language card, autostart programmers aid. joystick, paddles. Ferguson port¬ able colour TV. software selection, complete £1 .000 ono Tel: 01-8470130 We 20. cassette unit. Sargon. Chess and Star Battle cartridges, games cassettes and games book. £120 ono Tel: Felix¬ stowe 277515
Sharp M2 -808, 48K. excellent condition, dustcovcr. extended Basics. Forth. M C. wordpro. games, bodies over 40 casset¬ tes. MX80 interface. £300 Tel: 05253 7601 1 after 6pm.
Tandy TRS-Mvolnur computer. IbKwith cassette recorder, five months old. £195. as new. Tel: Whiteparish (Wiltshire) 349. evenings, no offers.
Atari VCS plus joysticks, paddles, and seven cartridges, including Space Invad¬ ers. Berzerk. Missile Command and Asteroids, must sell. £100 ono. Tel: Dundee (0382 >76554 Sharp M280A. perfect condition . manuals and software, original packing, warran¬ ty. dustcovcr. database, books. £450 or exchange Epson 11X20. Tel: Bolton 45981
Atari 400 600. Asteroids cartridge. £22.50; invitation to basic programming cassette .£12.50; conversational French . six cassettes. £25. Tel: Harrogate (0423) 879533.
Computer lynx, excellent condition, boxed, including cassette recorder, book, demo tape and manual, as new. cost £265. accept £195 Tel: Longficld (04747) 2854.
ZXS1, I6K RAM and nine software- cassettes. all as new. £65 ono. Write to Paul. 75 llgcs Lane. Cltolscy. Walling¬ ford, Oxon.
Oric-1, 48K. mint condition, one month old. selling lor bigger micro. £149.95 for quick sale Skilbcck Tel: 01-228 0659 evening. 01-606 7070 days Sharp MZ80K, 4sk. very good condition, still in box. plus software. £260. Tel: Cheltenham 38876
ZX81, IhK games include Kra/y Kong. Monster Maze, leads, manuals, plus 16- Mack and while television. £120. Tel: Romford 28 1 26 and ask for Robert 0ric-l, 4HK. boxed, chess. 3 months old. worth £178. lake £150 ono Tel: 041-954 581 16 after 6pm ( Glasgow J ZX Printer, wanted, up to £30 only Tel: P Walker 0272 733375
Newhrahl, Model A plus Pacman game and Beginners Guide, excellent condi¬ tion . only six months old . bargain at only £220. Tel: Steven Mcdlock on 0753 651508.
BBC software to swop or sell, including Acornsoft. Program Power. UK and AA F . also wanted Acornsoft original* to swop Tel: 01-574 4122 anvtimc Sinclair ZX81 addons. I6K RAM Osavc modulc. JMJ I/O interface fix sale, will sell separately, offers. P Walker. 0272 733375
Wanted, a micro business system. 64K or more . would consider a complete system including any software or sep units. Tel: 01 -965 3764 days
Sinclair ZX61, I6K RAM. Osave. JMJ user interface for sale, will sell separate¬ ly . offers. Tel: P Walker. 0272 733375. Spectrum games lor sale' Star Trek. 3X Trek. Cosmos, and Adventure 200. Tel: Amersham 7246 and ask lor Szimto. all tapes arc original
Atari 806, 48K with disk dnse. program¬ mers kit. book*, etc and much software, mainly games, worth over £750. only £401) Tel: 01-6426553.
Exchange Hawk CB. antenna, mount. SWR meter, all unused, plus £44). for 48K Spectrum, would consider Vic 20 with cassette Tel: Northampton (0604) 46874 evenings weekends.
Sharp MZ80B, disk drive, worth £2.0110. accept £ I .(Mi and free PC' 1 2 1 1 and printer Contact Wail Tarabzoum. II Saxon Hall. 16 Palace Court. London W24YA.
Vic 20 computer cassette unit. Jelly Monsters and Cloudburst cartridges, lots of software. £1(1) ono. Tel: Biggin Hill 73861
Atari 800, IS K . 4 III recorder . 822 printer .
. joysticks. Introduction to Programming.
I and 2 conversational French music- composer. various games. £550. Tel: Stoner. Mine head 3441
Acorn Atom. 12K ROM. I2K RAM. manuaH. PSli. magic hook. Invader tape plus various other games on tape, still boxed. £95. Tel: Leeds (0532) 563575.
TRS-60, Level II. 48K in keyboard, vdu. Tandy printer VII with keyboard inter¬ face. software. Senpsit Database editor and games, various hooks. £4<X). Tel: Fleet 4655 evenings.
PtfCBM 3032K + two cassette decks ♦ various manuals, excellent condition £325ooo Tel Edinburgh (HI-6670553. ZX81 I Ik Tronic* keyboard, lots of program tapes plus magazines and load-n-savc £55 ono. Alan V.C.S. with six games cartridges, excellent condition (90 ono I'd Matinee 0I4M8 3825 Atari software. Protector £12. Tanktics £8.541. Golden Voyage £8.50. Eastern Front £12. Lords of Karma £6.50. Lc Stick joystick £12. originals Tel: Soulh- end (0702) 559455 (5pm).
Lynx 48K. new. boxed. 1190 ono Tel: P Yall. Orpington 20281 after 8pm
Waited ZX8I IK will pay up to£ It). ..Iso if ZX8I bought, then RAM pack wanted, will pay £10. Bobby. Tel: Bradford (0274) 495882 (after 5pm weekends) Spectrum games to swop (or yours Planetoids. Hobbit. Munchcr. Arcadia. Blind Alley. Spawn of Evil. Pcnctralor. 3D Tunnel and many more. Steve. Td: Sheffield 666867
Acoratofl programs Ouest. Arcade Ac¬ tion. virtually new. £15 or will swop. P Walker Tel: 0272 733375.
America* computer magazines (no 80 Microcomuling left) lor sale or ex¬ change. s.a.c. list Smith. 84 Edcnficld Gardens. Worcester Park. Surrey KT4 7DY.
Appte disk controller. DOS 3.3. perfect working order, only £30, Apple disk dnse. needs new stepping motor and front door, otherwise OK. |ust £50 ono. Phone Wokingham (0734 ) 783388 after 5pm or weekends and ask lor Tim (Don't phone July 14-28. I'm on Hobday ). Sharp MZ-80B owners! Chomp — last, infuriating, addictive, centipede game, superb presentation, fun arcade fca- turcs sounds' Write B Slidslon. 71 Green Road. Winton. Bournemouth Tel: 1)202 525898
Atari owners with disk drives I have-
many games and utilities fix sale or
exchange Malvern 64607
Tan* CGP 115 printer for sale. £150 P
Walker Tel: U272 733375
Sal Lynx, three months old + hooks +
tapes lor £199 or swop (or Newbrain +
cash or Scisys Executive Chess Tel:
01-6244060.
Will swop complete CB rig plus all acccssonc. value £100 for £50 worth of Vic 20 hardware software, all oilers considered. Tel: Pcnkclh 7878.
16KZX81 with sanous bits ot hardware, over £30 worth ol hooks and £ 100 worth of software, value £200. bargain at £85. Tel: Reigale 47438 evenings.
Atari 400, program recorder. Basic manuals, cover, five months' old. Gorf. Zaxxon. Airstnkc. Scadragon. Survi¬ vor. Frogger. Galactic Chase . Invitation to Programming I. £220. Tel: 0703 869775
Sharp MZ80K. £199. including Fortran, speed basic, disassembler. 48K. adven¬ ture games. Cave. The Valley. Sargon. Chess, plus many others. S Payton. 9 Ormc Road. Kingston. Surrey.
Vk 20, C2N cassette deck. I6K RAM pack, joystick, lot of games & software, books & mags, all fix £185. Tel: 0272 644934 (after 6pm)
Atari VCS, still under warranty, plus joysticks, paddles, cartridges. Combal. Slarmastcr. Defender. Missile Com¬ mand. Raiders Of The Lint Ark. £1 15 ono. Tel: 01-731 0435 after hpm Vk 20 At C2N plus £1(1) software. £160; Vic 1515 printer and paper. £18(1; Machine code monitor. 3K RAM plus £50 books. £60. or all hx £380 Tel: Newbury (0635) 298861 B8C MmM B, Absolute bargain al £295. hardly used, perfect condition . complete with original packing, manual and leads. Call Shccd on 01-741 1746 now!!
Acorn Atom, I2K RAM. I6K ROM. ROM board tMNI worth o| loftWIK, program hooks, manuals, leads. PSU. must sell. £150, Tel: lngrchournc44338 Newbrain A0 A amber monitor and cassette, six months old. as new. also range of software including Invaders. Database, etc. cost new £520. (or sak at £350. Tel: Richard 0533 356295 after
TftS-00, 32K Level 2 expansion intcrfacc wilh monitor and cassette, plus Aculah floppy tape drive and Quickprinlcr.ovcr £400 software, complete system £500. Tel: Leicester 700619.
Atari 400800 software, sell or swop, disks, cassettes and ROM's Tel: M Yarned. 42 Wood End. Green Road. Hayes. Middlesex 4B3 25H 01-561 i
TBS 80. LI I I6K with VDU and tape unit, manuals and suit* arc. vgc. £199. Tel: 0525 220330.
Lynx boxed, as new . Appk arrival forces save ol cat £185 to good home. Tel: 0270 780073 (Crewe) after 6pm Wanted, home computer, will exchange Yacsu Ham radio FT200. also PSU. mint condition, money adj either way Tel: 0504 8826110. Frank, almost anytime Sinclair ZX81 plus I6K RAM. mint condition. £60 worth of Programs, all boxed, worth £140 accept £70 Tel: 0564 826 781 alter 6pm
Atari computer Missile Command car¬ tridge. £15; Boris Diplomat Chess Com¬ puter. cost £70 new. sell lor £40. Tel: 021-523 3195 after hpm weekdays, ask for Mark
Software /X8I for sak: OS Invaders. Micro-Gen Chess. M Orwtn Tape 4. Lamasofl Centipede. GDS Breakout. JK Greye Slaughter. £10 50 the lot P Evans. 58 Westwood Road. Ports wood. Southampton Tel: 558398.
Atari VCS. 20 cartrudgcs. new joysticks, excellent condition, includes Star Raid¬ ers. Defender. Frogger. Pacman. Chess etc. sell for a bargain £200 Tel: 041-946 91 10.
Colaur cartridge TV game. 4 cartridges, bargain al£25. Tel: Erith(38)34749 after
Mattel I nielli vision, eight months old. phis nine cartridges. Tron I. Tron II, Dungeons and Dragons etc. £200. Vaughan. Tel: (06285) 28894 eve tungs or weekends for quick sak.
Want pack BOM and manual (or Acorn Atom. £20. Program Power Toolkit, £10. Atom Business Programs Book. £4. Tel: 0623 756471 evenings Ami* Atom I2K plus I2K with Toolkit ROM and selection of programs includ¬ ing Chess. Galaxian. Adventures. De¬ fender. £120 ono. Tel: 02302 5187 (Beds)
The overwhelming response to PCN’s Billboard service is causing delay in publication of some advertisements. To solve this growing backlog and to cover some of the publication costs we are now charging £1.50 for each ad. Every form received at PCN’s offices, 62 Oxford Street, London W1A 2HG, must be accompanied by a postal order or cheque for £1.50 made payable to VNU Business Publications.
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
Appt« M game disks, twivthirds cost price . Cranston Manor. Prisoner. Thunder- land. Mission Asteroid: or all for £50. Also ITT 2020 3.2 Disk controller £25. may swop. Tel: 0841 2788 eves' weekends.
Samp BBC software, have over 30 excellent programs games Business etc. Please around West London Area only. Tc}: 01402038, tektorBtiwin Sinclair ZX8I. plus 16K RAM. over 260K or prerecorded tapes, all boxed.- worth £140. bargain for £70. Tel: 0564 826781 after 6pm only.
Frsa M3 CB! Free CB from non-use. it is receiving since I turned from CB freak to micro freak. Entire home-base unit for just £90 ono. P.O. Box 109. Rathcoolc. Co. Dublin. Eire.
Brvakar breaker* Any good buddies out there wanna CB? Home Base with all extras? (base antenna . heavy duty cable . power pack). Must sell quickly to raise cash for a Spectrum. D. Kelly. P O. Box 109 Rathcoolc, Co. Dublin. Eire Computer Chess Challenger in original box. with instructions and rules, excel¬ lent condition, unwanted present, sell for £35 ono Tel: 051 263 8701 . ask for Allan (wcckcnds/cvcs).
Atari NT'S still with warranty, plus cartridges. Combat Starmastcr. Missile Command. Defender. Raiders of the Lost Ark. £130 ono. Tel: 01-731 0435 after 6pm.
Aculat floppy tape and ten wafers, hardly used, plugs straight into the Video Genie Upgrading to disks hence £70 for quick sale Tel: Carlo. 01-639 4353 ext 267 or 01-732 6456
TRS 80 Model I 16K. L 2 manuals, monitor, recorder, software £225- Alan VCS £60. selection cartridges £10 each. Roland Juno-6 synthesizer £425. Tel: 01-7908163 after r-pm m 80 Model I I6K. L.2 VDU. vgc. manuals and software £200 Tel: Not¬ tingham 663548 after 6pm Mon-Fri. Complete CB set up. 40 channels. Harvard 420M. power supply. SWR meter. Hy-gain Silver Rod Antenna also Amslrad Mag-mount, items boxed Ex¬ change 48K Spectrum or Oric. Tel: 01-764 6659 after 7pm Commodore '4 with cassette and Prog, reference manual £340 delivered. £330 collected Tel: (0754) 2372 or (0754) 3400 after 6pm
Vk20 plus C2N cassette. Sargon Chess and Pirates Cove cartridges, all boxed as new £130 the lot Tel: 051420 6163. Mike Holt. (Widncs)
Apple Visicalc with back-up diskette and manual plus non-working Shugart 8in disk drive Swop for Pel software, hardware Tel: 01-202 5676 eves Vk20 Alien cartridge will swap or sell £15. worth £20. Tel: Leeds 661694 168 Spectrum, excellent condition, plus four arcade quality games, including Defender, Scramble. Pacman and 80 programs. Cost £200. your for £120. Tel: 01-202 7123.
Wanted I6K ZX8I programs on tape, must be under £2 and working, eg. 3D Defender. Asteroids. J Mcllor. Grccnhavcn. Clay Lane. Whitegate. Wmsford. Cheshire CW7 2QE Lists only please
Oric 1 48K RAM. as new. unwanted gift, boxed with PSU and demo tape Only £140 Tel Rotherham (0709) 530336. Dragaa software: Donrev King Mansion. Dragon Trek. Grand Prix. Planet Inva¬ sion. Madness and Minotaur Swop any one or more for any others. Tel: Isle of Man (0624) 71-374 after 6pm Atari VCS still with warranty, plus cartridges, Combat. StarmaMer. Missile Command. Defender. Raiders of the Lost Ark. £130 ono. Tel: 01-731 0435 after 6pm.
Atari NT'S cartridges. Warlords. £15. Bowling. £10 Breakout. £10: Black¬ jack, £8. H. Mackic. Lamar a. Duchal Road . Kilmacolm . PA 1 3 4AS. Scotland
PCN Billboard
TRS80 48KL2 lower case. l2'Monitor, 3 disk drives, teleprinter voice, synthesis¬ er ♦ manuals and programs. £550. Tel: Cardiff 65906. John Edmunds Sinclair ZX81 I6K one month old. boxed with leads, manual, over 300K of software including Chess, Flight Simula¬ tor. Monopoly. 3-D Defender', accept Tel Kilsyth 822345. PAP.
Atari Star Raiders. Shamus. Air Strike. Froggcr. Mystery Fun House and others. £ Hlcach Tel Bristol (0272 140662 5pm- 7pm. Don’t miss this great bargain. MatM I ntelh vision T V games console with 12 cartridges including Donkey. Kong. Microsurgeon. Dungeons and Dragons, cost over £400. will sell for £ 180 ono Tel: Bristol 843310 ZX81 plus computer magazines, over 20 IK programs and all leads. £50. Also Interstate Electronic Football game, only £2 50 Interested! Write to: 7 Copford Road. Billericav Essex or Tel: 02774 55274.
Vk 20 software for sale includes Blitz. Shadowfax. Cosmiads and many more. Tel: (O742)6l4224for details or wntc to: I Adlmgton Crescent. Parson Cross. Sheffield S5 8BP Each tape costs £3 Jupiter Ace I6K Software Dictator. £4 Intruders. £4 Breakout. £3 50 Ralph Lorenz. 2c Brook End Drive. Hcnlcy-in- Ardcn. Solihull. Midlands B95 5JA.
Vk 20 C2N cassette, aerial extension cable, over 30 programs, perfect condi¬ tion. manual and magazines, everything boxed, worth £200. price including postage and insurance £130 ono. Tel: Glcnboig 874204 after 5pm Books: 50 Vic Programs. £3. Mastering M;C (ZX8I). £3 Basic Computer Games. £2. Vic Ref Manual. £6 Adv¬ anced Basic Programs. £4. Jerry. 13a Hillmarton Road. London. N7.
Jupiter Ace. brand new (unwanted prize), bargain at £70. Tel: Melton Mowbray (Leics) 63617 Vk 28 - 3K. dalasscttc. joystick . Super Expander. Avengers. Ratracc. Starhat- tlc. Omega Race cartridges. 15 cassettes including Vicmcn. Myriad, books and magazines worth £450. Sell for £250. Tel: Inlsficld 656
Coate FX502P Personal Computer, com¬ plete with cassette interface and manu¬ als. £40 ono. Tel: 01-531 2892 evenings and weekends. (Freddy).
38 computer magazines worth £23 Sell for £5. Tel: 01-571 1317 (Derek) Spectrum software Anybody interested in starting a software exchange club for the Spectrum I6K/48K. PaulOckcnden. 61 Albourne Close. Brighton. Enclose S A F. and list of progs Adranfurafaml cartridge to swop for arty other adventure cartridge for the Vic 20. hi: Shaw 848993
Avuugur cartridge for Vk 20. still in original packaging, bargain at |USt £14. Tel: Ottcty St Mary (041M8) 3428 Ta swop: I6K Vk 20 software plus unex Escape from Pctras wanted. Tel: (0534) 26204 or 21474 after 4pm ZX81 for sak. almost new ( + kad and manual). £25 Six software tapes for sale. £12 (includes Vu-vik. Stanrail. 3-D Defender. 3-D Maze). Tel: Davcntry 4928 (Andy)
Wastrui teletype with software and hardware interface for BBC Mkro. Stand, manuals and dust cover also included, good condition, all for £75 ono Mark at Leeds 743060 Vk 28 boxed as C2N cassette recorder Mastering the Vk 20 book, synthesizer tape plus games tape including Star Wars. Froggcr. Crazy Balloon. £150. Tel: 01-340961 1 after 5 pm,
ZX81 t IhK) Zon-X sound unit. Krmp- slon keyboard. £20 worth of software. Spectrum board, leads, manual etc. All mint condition. Cost over £180 accept £127 ono Tel: S Kenton on0l-6606007 Atari VCS and eight cartridges including Asteroids. Bcrzcrk. Demon Attack. Pacman and Space Invaders, all boxed, vgc Worth £270. asking £150 ono. Tel: Alan on (0908) 319668 eves and w ends Wanted ZX Spectrum, pay £67 Also wanted BW TV. any size except 24 in. Willing to pay£IO. Write to Christopher Bryant. II Haugnvkw Road. Seaton. Devon EXI2 2PF
Wanted Vic 20 arcade games, cartridges, cassettes or other software. Tel: Dudky 237189 after 4 30 pm and ask for Richard
Wanted home computer Atari. Oric, Dragon or like Must be nooldcr than six months Tel: (0703) 733645 (South-
PNMpa vidcopac G7000 plus two casset¬ tes, Munchkin and Satellite Attack. £65 ono or swop for ZX8I wilh lhk Tel: (0632) 686313 (Newcastle)
Acorn Atom 12K + 12K Floating Point ROM and Toolbox ROM regulated PSU Many games and books . also green screen monitor, f 150 the lot. Tel: 01-328 5954 after 6.30 pm.
UK101 12K Ccgmon monitor Extended Bask 5 UC L/C and reverse characters housed in red case, not perfect but only £30 Tel: 01-777 8867 eves (Croydon) Philip* 07000 video game, very good condition. 7 games cartridges including Munchkins Will accept £80 Myrtle Cottage. Leigh Road, diulmlcigh. Norih Devon. Tel: Chulmkigh 80759
Acara Atom. I6K ROM (FP ROM + Program Power Toolbox), I2K RAM. cassette recorder. PSU. leads, books, software (Invader Force. Introductory Pack. Protector. Cvlon Attack etc). £1$5. Tel: Briton Ferry 820867
issues containing Spectrum programs please! Jason Kilby. 13 Phillips Walk. Rhymncy. Gwent NP2 5BN Tel: 0685 841561 after 6 pm
ZXS1 16K plus Kaydcc full size keyboard. £25 of games software, (in¬ cluding Flight Simulation. Chess and Scrambk) and literature. £80 or offers. Tel: (07842) 5291 1 (Ashford. Middx). Tandy TRS8I1 Colour Computer . three months old. paid £240. will accept £161) ono. Tel: Bilkricay 52492 for further details (Essex)
Mripl Have BBC B Micro — wish to know people around London area for swops, news. lips, programs, magazines etc. Also have over 40 programs Tel: 01-902 6838. ask for Bhavin TI99/4A software: Chalice, Penguin and Haunted Housc Wumpus, £2 .99 each or swop for similar cassettes, as new Also wanted . any game . business or education printouts Tel: (0270) 215420 (Crewe) TRS88 level II. 32K Expansion Interface £100. LVIII printer. £200. twin disks. £300 pair. I6K keyboard monitor. £200 or compklc. £750. Ideal small business. Tel: Wolverhampton 631884 Sh«p MZ-80K, high resolution graphics hoard fitted, with £100s of software on cassette, good condition. £425 or will swop for BBC B Tel: 061 962 2860aftcr 4 pm
PMBp* C ,7000 computer TV game . worth £69, not that old. want £35, Cartridges (5) worth £16 each, want £8 each, both half pnee Tel (0344) 53541 eves ITT 2020 (Apple II equivalent) with two disk drives. Apple graphics modifica¬ tion. games and utilities software and manuals. £700. Tel: 01-908 3939 eves
READERS’ BUY & SELL FORM •
. Billboard is PCS" s micro marketplace. Whether you are buying, selling, or swopping secondhand' ' goods, just Till in the form up to a maximum of 24 words, including your name . addressor full telephonel I number and send it with a cheque or postal order for £1.50 payable to VNU Business Publications, ( to Billboard. Personal ( omputer News, 62 Oxford Street. London \V I A 2II<>. But remember. this|
| service is not for commercial advertisements; we will not include ads from companies large or ■ small . or from anyone carrying on a profit-making business. Also, we cannot guarantee to place ads1 in specific issues — it's first come, first served. No reprints either unless you send in another form.
I Please write clearly putting only one word in each box. and remember to include your full address and telephone number, even if you don't want them in the ad
PCN JUNE30-JULY6. 1983
83
MICROSHOP
Rates: £10 per single column cm. Minimum size 3 cm. Series discount available. Mechanical Data: Column width. 1 column 57mm. 2 columns 1 18mm. 3 columns 179mm. Copy Dates: 10 days prior to publication.
Contact: Ian Whorley on 01-323 32 1 1
CAN YOU MISS OUT ON A GOOD GAME?
We couldn t which is how we can offer you more quality programs.
For the Dragon 32:
Scanner 1 3 £6.45. Odyssey parts 1 and 2 £9.95.
For the Spectrum 48K
Mystery Manner £6.50. Master code £6.50.
Bamby Software
Leverburgh Isle of Harris PA83 3TX.
or phone 085 982 31 3 or 239 Please phone between 9am and 9pm.
PHOTON SOFTWARE
PRESENTS
* FOR THE TEXAS Tl 99 4A *
GAMESTAPE It
Mars Landing and Brortiylhme only £4 95 nd P&P
GAMESTAPE 2:
PHOTON SOFTWARE
33 LtopoM Road. London MW10 Tel (01) 965 7021
A SINCLAIR SOFTWARE HARDWARE SPECIALIST CONVENIENTLY SITUATED NEAR M 1 AND M62 MOTORWAYS
PHILIP COPLEY HI-FI LTD
6 WESTLEY STREET. OSSETT. WEST YORKSHIRE TEL: 0924 272545
HOURS OF BUSINESS TUE-SAT 10 30-5 30 OPEN BY APPOINTMENT UNTIL 8P M
BBC CHARACTER GENERATOR
Menu driven facilities include reflect, invert and 3 rotates Display is on grid lor multi-character pictures Full load and save etc £9.95 PSP FREE CHEQUES TO
VISCOUNT SERVICES LTD
0705-633633
NO FUSS GUARANTEE
IIORSI R\(IN(.
Professor Frank George'i H5 HORSE RACE FORECAST program is a serious punter’s aid to sensible betting Data is entered from a sporting news paper and the program produces betting recommendations.
Versions available for Apple II. Pet. Video Genie. TRS-80. Spectrum. ZX81.BBC B’. NewBrain. Sharp MZ80A, Sharp MZ80K.
From: Bureau of In formation Science. Commerce House. High Street.
Chat font St. Giles. Buckinghamshire. Football Pools Forecast available
ORIC1
DIIAJJfMSLER IMMEDIATE TEST FACILITY
KStS MSW MSS MS*
MICROPLOT
II TM (arts Ctefl. CUmlnmrt. Coventry CV3 XI
PHONE: 0203 503038
WANTED! I
HIGH REWARD FOR QUALITY PROGRAMS FOR ALL MICROS SEND YOUR CASSETTE WITH DETAILS FOR EVALUATION TO:
1VIICRO-TRONICS,
27A MARKET STREET, TAMWORTH, ST AITS B79 7LR.
— IALITY PROGRAMS WANTED
an Arcade Action Games from our lots We specialise solely n adventure simulator end business games from many inoepen demsuppeers Full lets (Stale computer!
j- - gjf **0**OFT.
146 Barrack Road.
SPECTRUM BACK-UP COPIER
Fvel ot a* you had to back up programs by making tape to tap# copies Now KEYSOFT present
G — RE 7
Oder THE KEY lor ,
IEY lor any ZX Only £5*
KEYSOFT, Dept. PCN 1
6 Bruce Grove. London N1 7 6RA
B KEYSOFT advtee users not lo nt rings me
Programmers Wanted We require quality programs for most micro’s and experienced programmers to undertake contract work.
We pay cash fees, royalties and distribute in the UK and USA.
Phone Basingstoke (0256) 2S107 or write to
DREAM SOFTWARE, P.O. Box 64, Basingstoke, Hants. RG21 2LB
LYNX OWNERS
NILUG. The National Independent Lynx User Group has now been formed Subscriptions C9 per year Send cheque payable to Nilug, to
NILUG
53. Kingtwood Avenue. Sandersteed. South Croydon. CR2 900
The tint newsletter is now available
WORDSWORTH
IF ALL THE ANSWERS ARE YES. ANO IT COSTS LESS THAN C20 BUY IT
IT MUST BE WORDSWORTH!
ALSO AVAXASLE OIBECT PfaCE Cl 7 IS. FROM
IAN COPESTAKE
23 Connaught Crescent Brookwood. Woking. Surrey GU24 0AN Telephone 048 67 Brookwood 4755
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
|
■^■■■1 MICR0SH0P |
'H| |
|
; Services |
1 |
HOBBYIST LIMITED
OpM 6 days I0am-7pm Wednesday and Saturday! 5 31pm
Authorised Apple Service Centre
Apple lie. Epaon HX20 Porte!* Computer and Epson RX«0. FXSO Pnmaft M now in Modt^Also wide rang* ol
3 The Broadway. Manor Hall Road. Southwlck, Brighton BN4 4ND
T*l 0273 593345
INSURE
YOUR COMPUTER
Impact damage, Fin, Thefts Transit Ineuren ce for your Computer Equipment:
C1toCI,500covor CBOOpaCIO(ntcem)
C1.500toC2.S00 CieOOpaCISIncanl
C2.S00toC8.000 - -
C10.000 .
KGJ Insurance Brokers
• iwaHfKM n*w*iMa< »m immi bti ii
Tal (03S43) S333 2545
SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER FOR THE LATEST + BEST OSBORNE YET!
★ 80 Column screen
★ Double Density
★ Green phosphor screen
SPECIAL PRICE Cl, 195
Quantity dwcount on application Normal rata* price £1.495 MONITORS 12 inch monitor, lor the OsDorne Oataria auppaad on laouaet
CONTACT TRICIA CARROU Tal 0252 5157*5
OLA COMPUTER SERVICES LTD 105 Mytchett Road, Mytchett. Camberley, Surrey.
Tel. (Farnborough) 0252 516766.
SURPLUS PREMISES TO LET
ANGEL ISLINGTON N.l
0, COMPUTI TRACTIVE fl
01-359 2465
64 BUSINESS USERS
flood software in stock. e g Calc Result. Packages. Visewnte and Spell. Co Assembler. Monitor. Programming Utilities a WAIT FOR IT CENTRONICS INTERFACES
THE COMPUTER CENTRE 17 Bridge Street, Leighton Buzzard. Beds. Tal (0525 376622 A 362504)
NO HIDDEN EXTRAS — YOU PAY THE PRICE YOU SEE
VERBATIM DATALIFE FLOPPIES
|
10 PACK |
£21.25 |
|
MD 577-01 SSDD77 80TRACK TWIN PACK . |
£7.28 |
|
10 PACK . |
£30.41 |
MD 550-0 1DSDD TWIN PACK . £7.32
10 PACK . £30.61
PAPER-PACK(250sheels9.5x11) £4.02
LABEL PACK (250 labels fils 9 5 tractor) E5.32DISC-BOX (Stores 50 tloppes) £21.21
MX80 RIBBON . £4.23
VERBATIM 5 25 Cleaning kit . £8.23
REMEMBER VAT AND CARRIAGE ARE INCLUDED YOU PAY THE PRICE YOU SEE!
E3
COMPAC LTD
COMMERCE HOUSE STUART STREET. LUTON. BEDFORDSHIRE LU1 SAU
Tel. 0582 452580
Many programs, chant and diagram, 17 chapters, appendices, and index, iv 4 504 page large-format paperback ISBN 0 9507650 07 Price in UK and Europe £14.90 each (includes post and packing:. Five or more £17 90 each. 48 hour order turnaround guaranteed.
Trade Manager. Edward Arnold (Publishers) Lid. Woodlands Park Avenue. MAIDENHEAD. Berks SL3 3 LX.
Tel: (062882) 3104
"A —anaa“-Ci "Encniul — EJmon
r. MAIDENHEAD. uag the PET CBM « £14.90
I endow cheque FO lor I
COMPUTER DESKING
Basic Desk £42 50
Storage Shelf £5.50
Delivery & Packing £8.50 va
A & S ASSOCIATES
Kirklands House. Kirklands Gardens. Balldon W. Yorkshire BD17 6HP. Tel (0274) 584643
SHORT-LENGTH COMPUTER AUDIO TAPES
It you have Marched without success for high quality low cost short-length tapes then sit back and relax.
Premium Grade Agfa R.F W Cassettes Manufacturers o< high quality blank casset¬ tes suitable for programming. For example, with a minimum order of 25. you can purchase 25 cassettes of 2 Vi minutes each side for only £10.00 plus postage & packing of £1 -95p Fill in the coupon and post with your remittance to: R.F.W. Recording Supplies, Green Acres, Northlands. Sib- sey Nr. Boston, Lincolnshire PE22 OUA. Tel: 0205 750 595
All prices en Inclusive of VAT at 15% Please send me high-quality audio tapes in the quantity indicated (tick where applic¬ able) 25 cassettes (including £1.95 p&p)
□ 2 Vi nuns . . ....
□ 5 mins . «...
nemins
□ 7’4mins
□ lOmins
□ l2Vkmlns
□ 2Vimins..
□ 5mms
□ 6 mins
□ 7Vy irons ..
□ 10 irons
□ 12V5 irons
50 cassettes
(including £2 49 p&p)
Ell 95 £1220 £12 45 £1260 £13 20 £1395
□ 2V5 irons...
□ 5 irons U6mms
D 7Vi irons.
100 cassettes
(including £3.50 p&p)
... £22.75 £22 95 £2349 £23 99 £24 99 £2649
£4350 £44 50 £45 50 £46 50
_ £48.60
□ 12Vkmins £53 50
Including inlay card & side-labels.
Total Remittance £ _
NAME _
ADDRESS _
I enclose my cheque PO -
Please make cheque PO peyable R.F.W.
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
MAKE YOUR ADVERTISING COUNT
PERSONAL
COMPUTER
NEWS
offers
IMMEDIATE
IMPACT
on your market
Call Ian Whorley or
Christian McCarthy on (01) 323 3211
Microshop Classified
• Mari VCS cartridges for hire: large select ion from only 15p a day; Life Membership is £10; send chcqucv'POs and enquiries to Loophole Software. rjmewydd.Caef asteM Estate Buihh Wells; Poayi
• Nnwkrain Saftwarn. Business and sc nous .ipplualion Fully descriptive price list available on request. Coroix-Mkro. Ih Knees worth Street, Rovston. Herts
• Imtessmdaat Newbram l ’set Group Memherstiip includes Monthly Newsletter. Britain £8. JO. Japan £14.38. Europe £11.20. USA £13.66. Payment to: Anthony Hodge. 15 St. John's Court. Wakefield WFI 2RY. Transcash Girobank 6421133005 preferred.
• Looking lor Lynx games’ Well look no further Computer Attack by Marcus is here Send cheque for £5.00 to Fiddament. 7 Elmlree Avenue. West Bndgford. Nottingham NG2 7JU Utilities on reverse!
• T1 99 4* Software . OHiptllCI I aid game for one or (WO players Joystick compatible Excellent graphics Beal computer or your fncnds £3 V5 Teksoft (UK). 30 Gipten Wood Road Leeds 8 CM No OQSOI
• Dragon 32. 3 exciting new games "Grandad s Will £4.00. "Daredevil Pilot” £7.00. "Chain Reaction" £7.00. Spectrum "Supalrck” £7,00. Oric 1. "Smug¬ glers' Island" £7.00. Inlcrsoft, 4 Craig Place. Aber¬ deen. Scotland
• lynx 4Mt software. Labyrinth — 3D Maze Chancel¬ lor — UK Economy simulator. Othello — Traditional Board Game Space Trek — Zap the Klmgons. £4.75 each including PAP Ouazar Computing. 17 Teg Close. Port slade. Sussex
GRAPHICS
‘ The New Intelligent Graphics c ' Serial or parallel operation
* 38 commands
• 512 x 256 (131 .072 pixels)
■ 85x25 text
COMPUTER AIDS
13 liirsdaa C » Hinckley laics U1« M
SIRIUS USER CLUB
MEETING ON MONDAY 25TH JULY 1903 AT THE KENNEDYH0TEI.EUST0N. LONDON PRESENTATIONS AN0 DEMONSTRATIONS OF IBIS, MPSl. SGS. PULSAR NOMINAL LEGER PACKAGES
MEMBERSHIPWORLDWIDE
Appointments
MICROCOMPUTERS
C250 COMMISSION
YES, We will pay up to £250 or 5% of Sale to Agents, Reps or Persons who supply to us a business lead which we convert into a sale
For details:
Computer Incentives,
500 Chesham House,
150 Regent Steet,
London WIR 5FA
Tel: 01 -439 6288
TO ADVERTISE IN THE APPOINTMENTS SECTION OF
CALL IAN WHORLEY ON
01-323 3211
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. 1983
NOTE TO EXHIBITORS
1982: 47,543 reasons to be at the 5th PCW Show
1983 : 20 chances to be at the 6th
Six months before the doors open on the 6th PCW Show, Britain’s number one micro event, only 20 stands* are available for allocation. Need we say
more. . .?
To discuss stand availability today, phone Timothy Collins on 01-486 1951. For exhibitor list and further information write to Montbuild Ltd, 1 1 Manchester Square, W1M 5Ab, Telex 24591.
* correct at 20.4.83
BARBICAN CENTRE, CITY OF LONDON 28 September — 2 October 1983
PCN JUNE JO-JULY 6. I<M3
QUIT
Words in edgeways
Just to set your minds at rest PCN is able to reveal that Victor's most recent ad deliber¬ ately shows the machine up¬ side-down. This is supposed to catch your eye. and it certainly works. It may even have drawn your eye away from a surprising claim in the text.
The hard disk option, we are told, gives you 10Mb — ‘equivalent to three million words’. Very short words!
Pupils?
A revolutionary new training method seems to be just the thing for businessmen in a rush. The system claims to be able to take users to full proficiency in . . . well, no time at all.
Silicon Valley Computer Centre is advertising on-sight training courses for people who. we assume, find ten mi¬ nutes to learn Lisa a bit of a strain. On-sight training pre¬ sumably involves the use of flash cards and a series of tutors hiding behind the door.
EPSON RACES — Hurtling Into * tight left-hander at 130 mph you arc suddenly seind by the desire to wort out your petrol consumption. You strip
knees to guide the bike, you enter 130 Argbh' and plough into a handily placed straw bale. Isn't it the pits? No. It’s a picture from Epson demonstrat¬ ing that the Suruki Grand Prix team is using an HX20. Epson is becoming the
Eg
2
• Pro-Test of the Tandy TRS-80 Model 100
• The new Digital Research Basic for CP/M 86 machines
• Utility packages for the Ncwbrain
• RS232 interface for the ZX machines
• ROMs for Commodore machines
• New games for Vic20. Spectrum. BBC. Commodore 64
• Micropaedia Sound Part 2
ERRORS
HASH UP. . .
The Program listing in Portrait of the Atari as an Artist. PCN issue 16. was slightly misleading — Atarians should note that, where the program says £. they should type #. Sorry for the
BUT NO COVER-UP
Apologies to Jay Myrdall. whose cosmic concept featuring the BBC micro and the Atari 800 in orbit around the earth on last week's cover was wrongly credited.
|
PCN Datelines keeps you in touch with up-coming events. Make PCN Datelines should send the information at least one month |
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|
sure you enter them in your diary. |
before the event. Write to PCN Datelines. Personal Computer |
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| Organisers whowouldlikedetailsofcomingeventsincludedin News. 62 Oxford Street. London W1 A 2HG. |
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1 UK EVENTS |
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E*«wt |
Dates |
Venue |
Organisers |
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Dcxpo Europe ’83 |
June 29-July 1 |
West Centre Hotel. London |
Expo Consul Inc. 01-948 31 1 1 |
|
Malvern Microcomputer Fair |
July 2 |
Winter Gardens. Malvern. |
Personal Computer Fairs. |
|
Worcestershire |
Worcester 22659 |
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Micro Trade ‘83 |
July 6-8 |
Barbican Centre. London |
Timothy Collins. Montbuild Ltd. 01-486 1951 |
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IBM Users Conference & |
July 12-14 |
Wembley Conference Centre |
Online Conferences Ltd. |
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Exhibition |
09274 28211 |
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8lh ZX Microfair |
August 211 |
Alexandra Palace. London |
Mike Johnstone. 01-801 9172 |
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Acorn User Exhibition |
August 25-18 |
Cunard International Hotel. |
Computer Marketplace Ltd. |
|
London |
01-930 1612 |
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Computer Open Day |
September 1 |
Draganora Hotel. Leeds |
Tony Kaminiski. Couchmcad Communications Ltd. 01 -778 1102 |
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Home Entertainment Show |
Sep 17-25 |
Olympia. Ijindnn |
Montbuild Ltd. 01-486 1951 |
|
Computer Open Day Exhibition |
September 22 |
Central Hotel. Glasgow |
Couchmcad Communications Ltd. 01-778 1 102 |
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Microcomputers in Business |
Sep 27-29 |
Warwick University. Coventry |
Peter Bubb. 01-892 4422 |
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Personal Computer World Show |
Sep 29- Oct 2 |
Barbican Centre. London |
Montbuild Ltd. 01-486 1951 |
|
International Micro Computer |
Aug 2-5 |
Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia |
Conference & Exhibition Management Services |
|
Exhibition |
SDN HI ID. 9- A Jalan SS24/8 Taman Megah. Petaling Java. Selangor |
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National Computer Business & |
Aug 16-19 |
Auckland. New Zealand |
Trade & Industrial Exhibitions. 12 Heather |
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Office Systems |
Street. Parnell. PO Box 9682. Auckland |
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Personal Computers & Office |
Sep 5-8 |
Amsterdam. The Netherlands |
RAI Gcbouw BV. Europaplcin 2. 1078 GZ. |
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Automation Systems Exhibition |
Amsterdam |
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Australian Computer Exhibition |
Sep 13-16 |
Melbourne. Australia |
Riddell Exhibition Promotions PTY Ltd. 166 Albert Road. South Melbourne. Vic 3205 |
|
International Peripheral Equipment & Software Exposition |
Sep 13-15 |
Mosconc Centre. Anaheim. USA |
Cahners Exposition Group SA. 0483 38085 |
PCN JUNE 30-JULY 6. I9KJ
Join the jet set.
The Acorn Spark-Jet printer employs the very latest dry-ink printing technology, resulting in last clean and virtually noiseless printing.
This is all due to its advanced serial matrix printhead. Electronic impulses fire minute part¬ icles of the carbon rod at high speed through a 7x7 dot matrix, producing extremely high-quality lettering and graphics time after time.
And, as there are no moving parts within the head itsm, the action is as quiet as a whisper.
In addition. the Acorn Spark-Jet printer is also capable of handling high resolution graphics and plotting.
It works with any 8 bit micro¬ computer, via the centronics parallel interface, and is specially recomm¬ ended for use with the BBC] Micro (also designed and built by Acorn Computers Ltd.) to form a thoroughly professional word, copy and graphics processing system.
All printing is logic-seeing and hi -directional and can lx* executed in normal, double height, double width and underlined characters.
And yet, with all these advanced featu res,the Spark-Jet costs only £365.
Not only that, but you also receive a free program on cassette that enables you to ■dump’ graphics from either monitor or TV.
If you’re interested in joining the jet set, simply call in at one of the dealers listed below. He'll tell ^P&CORN >ou everything you need COMPUTER to know.
MICRO M WACKMKNT
32 Prince* Si rrrt. Iptwirh. Suffolk lh iyC.
047359181.
MICROSTYLE
47 < 4irap Sireri Nmhurv Brrkahirr.0635 41929. COMPITKRSKJRAI.I.
72 N«»rih Strr«*i. Romford. Kwv 1171 18 60723. JESM >1* MICRt HIM THi INK > I IMITF.D l nil 3. 7 I amg Street. I jondon E28II Y 01-739 3232/729 1831.
WELBECK VIDEO
26loUi'nh*mCnurt Road. I .ondon 4 1.01-580 1328.
|l» II I .ST\R ( I IMI'1 TKRS I .IMITEI >
17 R.-*iria Road. Southall. Middlna-x I H2 51*1 01-374 5271.
CKOIPTO
208 Mai hank Road. South Woodford, London 148 01-505 7724.
I.E V* \I.INk \ IE1 l>\TA I .IMITEI)
S-irnlifw llouM-.Hridpe Street. Sandiarre. Nottingham V.IO 5114.0602 3<m84/3,)0,J7h.
( \HI HU MICRIM OMin IKRS 46 f Charles Strrrl. I jrdiff. I .lamorgan
0222 .373072.
I.E \MIMi1t4N H0BH3 CENTRE
121 Rrpnl Street, Leamington Spa. «an,i<-k»hire.
092629211.
RIB ELECTRICAL
157/161 king.lon Road. Portsmouth. Ilampidiire. 0705812478
T8 ICKENII VMCOMI'I TER CEN TRE 72 llralh Road/IWirkenham. Middlnrv 01-891 1612.
KEI.I.VSCOMPt TER M \RkET
227 1 »arl month Koad.Sidonham. I nmlonSI 26 t^V 01 -699 621 12/4399.
Together the ORIC-1 Micro and IJK Software bring you the dawning of a new era...
★ SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER - DEDUCT C2 FROM TOTAL WHEN ORDERING 3 CASSETTES!
□
TWo classic games repro¬ duced here for your ORIC-1 Micro to test your mental agility and reflexes to the full.
For the 48K ORIC-1 ONLY Only C7. SO Inc.
ALL PRICES FULL INCLUSIVE OF VAT AND NO MORE TO PAY
All advertised software is in stock NOW and will be despatched within 48 hours of receipt of order.
As Fleet Commander in the Xenon Space Academy, you must protect your home planet RADON from the AARDS PARATRONS and the ZORGON Battle Star' If 100% machine code with the
one for you - better arcade
TWo top educational games proven as best sellers on the BBC Micro put together here on one cassette for twice the fun on the ORIC-1 Micro for the 48K ORIC-1 . Only C7.S0 Inc.
IJK
Software
Limited
((''j 24 HOUR ANSAFONE
9 King Street, Blackpool, Lancs. Telephone (0253) 21555